Europe has taken a leading role in the international effort for a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Transport systems play a crucial role in this effort and the competition among the various transportation modes for the shrinkage of their environmental footprint, is mounting. Maintaining its focus on sustainability, Europe is seeking to produce transport solutions with a cost effective and environmentally friendly life cycle, integrated in its smart cities. This is what the H2020 funded project "TrAM-Transport: Advanced and Modular" aims to offer (https://tramproject.eu/). It is validating a concept for waterborne transport by implementing state-of-the-art "Industry 4.0" holistic ship design and production methods, for fully electrical vessels, operating at reasonably high speed in the vicinity of urban areas. The project will lead to significant lower construction costs and reduction in engineering hours for new zero emission fast vessels. Three different catamarans will be designed by implementing the developed methods, while one of them will be undergoing detailed design and physical model testing, prior to its construction and start of operation in Stavanger/Norway before the end of the TrAM project in 2022. The paper outlines the objectives, first R&D outcomes and the main challenges of the project
