Transport has a major influence on prospects for further development in a region, especially in the process of globalisation, which causes economical and social contacts to increase. As a result, it is the rapidly developing transportation and telecommunication technologies that nowadays enable intensive social and economic interaction at ever growing distances. In response to the preference of road and air transportation which meet clients' needs better (speed and standard, point-to-point service etc.), the railway lost its position in both passenger and freight transportation over the past decades. The aim of the paper is to evaluate existing technological innovations, which could help railway become competitive again.