For freight transportation, there are several potential impacts, mostly indirect. The most straightforward is that since high speed rail uses its own right of way, the separation between passenger and freight systems promotes the efficiency and reliability of both networks. The main reason is that passengers and freight have different operational characteristics, namely in terms of speed and frequency of service. For each passenger car that is removed from regular rail lines an additional three freight rail cars can be accommodated by the new slot. The setting of high speed networks may also incite additional investments in rail freight infrastructure, particularly in metropolitan areas, better signaling technologies and cost sharing initiatives. Although there have been discussions about the potential of using high speed rail to move freight, these have not yet led to concrete realizations. There are plans to have a high speed rail cargo network in Europe by 2015, which would link major air cargo hubs such as Paris, Liege, Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt. The goal is to provide an alternative to short haul air cargo routes as well as the possibility to move cargo between the hubs and improve their long distance air cargo connectivity.Yet, HSR do not have the far reaching impacts on passenger mobility that its proponents suggest, at least on the medium term. Although HSR in Europe is considered to be successful, its implementation required massive subsidies and its profitability remains difficult to achieve. The case of China is also illustrative in spite of the massive potential that HSR may have in a context of existing high usage levels of passenger rail and a dense urban system, the development of HSR networks is challenging. The rush to construct the system has raised technical and security issues and has been associated with low ridership. China remains a developing country were low fares are the dominant factor in mode selection, implying that HSR is not affordable for the great majority of the population. The location of stations remains a salient issue as suburban locations are advantageous from an availability of land perspective. However, suburban locations tend to be not well connected to the local transport system and are remote from central areas, which is commonly the destination for most passenger traffic. The impacts of new HSR stations as poles for urban growth and development remain so far elusive.In addition to present technologies, an entirely new technological paradigm has been under development in Japan and Germany since the late 1970s. The new technology is known as Maglev(Magnetic Levitation); it utilizes magnetic forces to uplift trains, guide them laterally and to propel them, relying upon highly efficient electromagnetic systems. The first commercial maglev rail system was inaugurated in Shanghai in 2003. Maglev systems have experienced some constraints on widespread commercialization, however, such as difficulties with integration in established rail corridors and perceptions of high construction costs.