Add to ORKGThis paper presents the obtained results of a methodology implemented for the feasibility analysis, both technical and economic, of freight distribution systems in urban and/or metropolitan areas using railways, which includes a system of urban freight demand models. The scope of this research is to assess a competitive rail transport option with respect road truck transport for some specific types of goods. The first part of the paper presents a state-of-the-art focusing on international and national experiences of the use of railways infrastructures for urban freight distribution, and describes the general framework of freight demand models for urban and metropolitan areas; the latter proposes a modelling system to estimate the freight d...