parallel to the planned Autobahn through Coburg and would have taken a route via Großbreitenbach and Stadtilm to Erfurt. The third option would have branched from a junction north of Ebensfeld and run via Coburg, Eisfeld, Großbreitenbach and Arnstadt to connect with the existing Eisenach–Erfurt line at Möbisburg. Critics of the project proposed an eastern route, via Bayreuth and Hof through eastern Thuringia and western Saxony, with a connection from Leipzig and Dresden. This option and an option that would have run near the existing lines with an approximately -long tunnel through the Franconian Forest were examined and discarded. Others suggested an eight-kilometer tunnel through the top of the crest. Deutsche Bahn also considered a -long base tunnel for the crossing of the Thuringian Forest. This alternative was rejected on the grounds of high groundwater pressures (near aquifers), the need to pass below the target storage level of the Goldisthal Pumped Storage Station (together with additional sealing of the tunnel) and the need for much more elaborate safety measures. Preliminary planning Deutsche Reichsbahn initiated the pre-planning in the summer of 1991. A preparatory study had been submitted to the central administration of the Reichsbahn (Zentralen Hauptverwaltung der Reichsbahn, ZHvDR) in November 1991. It served as the basis for the preliminary drafting plan, which was prepared by the Planungsgesellschaft Bahnbau Deutsche Einheit ("Planning Corporation for German Unity Railway Construction") from early 1992 and confirmed by the ZHvDR at the end of 1992. At the same time, a national and environmental protection planning study was carried out with the participating federal states and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Within the scope of a space sensitivity test, a large-scale corridor investigation was carried out on the scale of 1:100,000 to determine route options. Among other things, conflicts and risks in relation to spatial and environmental factors along with railway operations and economic aspects were taken into account. According to the planning as of mid-1991, commissioning would be carried out by 2000 if possible. The preliminary draft plan of 1992 envisaged speeds of with a journey time between Nuremberg and Erfurt of 75 minutes. The planned costs were DM 8 billion (about €4 billion). Already in 1993, before the beginning of construction, the route handled 80 passenger trains during the day and 200 freight trains at night. In 1992, five options were developed that would have passed through a -wide corridor, one of