European Union has noted that freight transport volumes grow at about the same pace as the economy. Nevertheless, this trend is mainly due to road transport sector, which is the highest pollutant emitter. In fact, average CO2 emissions in grams per t-km of road transport are fourfold bigger than the ones of railways. This is one of the main reasons for which it would be necessary to improve combined intermodality. The paper analyses at first the current international combined freight flows, focusing on the shipments trade relations between Asia and Europe through Adriatic, Mediterranean and Atlantic ports. Then it focuses on the economic effects of promoting transport solutions different from the road, taking into account two variables, time travel and pollutant emissions.