of this. The planning approval for the reconstruction was given in the mid-1990s. The official groundbreaking was celebrated on 22 September 2001. The newly constructed track layout comprise 21 platform tracks at 12 platforms as well as 67 sets of points. Six railway bridges were built during the construction work. Underneath the station a shopping arcade has been built on an area of around 3,000 m². Underneath this shopping arcade is an underground car park. Both facilities were reduced in size during the planning phase. An open competition was held for the design of the new station. In the autumn of 1995, an eleven-member jury selected the winning plan for the station from a total of 123 submissions. Civil protests against the demolition of the historic island building, which was supported by a building historian of the Bauhaus University, Weimar, were not considered. Planning approval was given for the reconstruction of the railway node in September 1995. The planned measures included five kilometres of track, 46 kilometres of overhead wires and the renewal of eight railway bridges. The financing agreement for the reconstruction was concluded on 26 March 1998. The planned total costs were around DM 207 million. Work would start in the autumn of 1999 and be completed in 2003. An electronic interlocking for controlling the Erfurt rail node was put into operations before the start of the large-scale construction work on 14 March 1999. This replaced the eight relay, electro-mechanical and mechanical signal boxes, which were up to 92 years old and controlled by up to three train dispatchers, 155 sets of points, 154 signals and 119 repeater signals. This early completion had become necessary, as there was a ban had been placed on refurbishing the old signalling technology. Conceptually, the plan provided for a safety-related longitudinal separation of the station, in order to be able to carry out the rebuilding in stages. The electronic interlocking is now remote-controlled from the Leipzig signalling centre. In October 2001, Vieselbach and Hopfgarten stations and three block posts were also connected to the Erfurt electronic interlocking. The renovated entrance building went into operation on 21 August 2002 after eight months of construction. The construction works, which were then estimated to cost around €250 million were expected to be completed by 2006. The extensive reconstruction of Erfurt Hauptbahnhof started in 2002. A comprehensive redesign of the track layout was carried out as