With the support of EU’s key funding program Horizon Europe, the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail) aims to deliver faster deployment of innovations in the railway design. The EU-Rail FutuRe project aims at tackling the increasing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of European interoperable regional lines by means of providing new innovative solutions to make these lines cost-effective and attractive. Setting the right level of requirements and specification for the regional rail rolling stock plays therefore an important role in meeting the FutuRe objectives. The detailed objectives are to define a vehicle concept for up to 100 passengers or corresponding freight with significant vehicle weight savings compared to existing rolling stock. The key systems for the research are the mechanical arrangement to avoid unnecessary weight and reduce maintenance costs on vehicle and track, the propulsion system which must be emission free despite that these lines often are non-electrified and the control system which may be combined with train protection system and offer autonomous running.