The development of innovative systems for rail and maritime terminals is an issue high on the agenda of the transport industry. In Europe, a number of new transport systems for unitized cargoes are already in the mature design or pilot phase. A study was done to present a subset of these systems for which pilot demonstrations exist, to identify the basic directions of the relevant technological research and to evaluate the effects of these systems on the structural and operational environment of the terminals. The relevant analysis was based on the experience extracted by field trials as well as by modeling tasks used for the evaluation of the related terminal performance. It was revealed that tasks such as the reduction of terminal access time, fast train loading and unloading, and achievement of high degrees in equipment automation are technically and operationally feasible.