The study of CER, UNIFE, UIC and Euromot of the railway and engine manufacturing industries concluded on a risk of disruptive effect of the NRMM Directive application on the railway diesel vehicle supply market, leading to a possible risk of a partial modal shift from rail to road on regional passenger lines and freight transportation specialized routes, with even foreseeable consequences on the operations of the main electrified system. Such a shift would of course be highly detrimental to the achievement of the general objectives of a sustainable development of the European transport system. The project would also find the best balance between environmental and economical requirements, in order to avoid an always possible shift from rail transport to a less sustainable mode like road, even on electrified main routes would also encourage the engine industry to give rail applications serious consideration in their product development plans and provide the European Commission with proposals for a flexible move to the IIIB objective.The four years project is therefore build on the basis of several application sub-projects, representative of the different engine applications (rail cars, Diesel Multiple Units, shunting locomotives, main line light and heavy-haul locomotives) that will enable the industry to evaluate the different solutions to be applied to rail systems in real operating conditions.The optimum trade-off between the reduction of pollutant emissions by rail vehicles and the fuel energy consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as the overall impact of the applied technologies on the environment through a life cycle assessment approach, will be identified by this experimental part of the project. But the rail manufacturing industry also wishes to foster the development of rail specific applications of innovative solutions so as to even further develop the competitive advantages of rail transport in terms of sustainable development.