two tracks, which were on the north side and served as transit routes for freight transport from Erfurt freight yard to Neudietendorf. The eastern bay platform 4 was used by trains to and from Sangerhausen and the adjacent bay platform 3 by trains to and from Nordhausen and Bad Langensalza. The western bay platforms 2 and 6 mostly served trains to and from Arnstadt and towards Suhl, Ilmenau or Saalfeld. In addition, on the south side, there was the island platform 7, with through tracks for trains heading east to Weimar, which was built in 1940/1941. The platform designation was valid until 1975. After that there was a new numbering system, giving each track at a platform its own number. In 1992, Deutsche Bundesbahn finally changed to using the term Gleis (track) instead of Bahnsteig (platform). This was, however, a bit problematic because the in-house track numbers used in the signalling technology did not correspond to the adopted track numbers. The station had the "Ew" signal box on the southern side at its western entrance and the elevated "Er" signal box at the eastern exit. In addition between the tracks 5 and 8 there were the "mushroom" signal box "Es" as well as the small "Ev" signal box (Vogelnest—"bird's nest") in the entrance hall. The station tracks were electrified in 1967. This second station building operated in its original form until 2000. Only the entrance hall, which has been integrated into the new, third station, still stands. Station reconstruction The Zentrale Hauptverwaltung (ZHvDR—central headquarters) of Deutsche Reichsbahn was given the task of carrying out preliminary planning work at the Erfurt node on 18 August 1992. Planning work was then started. The preliminary planning documents were provided to ZHvDR for confirmation in mid-1993. They proposed a new electronic signalling centre, the renewal of 44 km tracks and 143 sets of points. 11 bridges in the urban area of Erfurt would be replaced or rehabilitated. The estimated cost of these measures was DM 439 million. The station was comprehensively modernised from 2002—after the demolition of the historical island building, which gave the station its appearance until then—and was officially handed over to the traffic on 13 December 2008, although not all reconstruction work had yet been completed. The cost of the reconstruction would amount to about €260 million. The Free State of Thuringia and the City of Erfurt would contribute €44 million