of 2011. The last tunnel of the new line of the VDE 8 transport projects, the Höhnberg Tunnel was broken through on 25 August 2012. In June 2013, the Dörfles-Esbach connecting curve was connected to the existing network, in order to be able to carry the rails for the construction of the line, among other things. The rails of the new line came from several large German track manufacturers and some were carried by goods trains on the lines from Coburg and Erfurt. At the end of November 2014 Deutsche Bahn announced that all 29 bridges on the new line had been completed. In September 2014, the railway engineering equipment began working on the route, mainly to lay power cables. According to Deutsche Bahn AG, the work would be completed in September 2015. In 2015 and 2016, installation of rail equipment (in particular ETCS and telecommunications) would follow. The construction work on the line was to be completed in early 2017 and trial operations were planned from mid-2017. Commissioning In February 2016, sections of the new line were used to carry out radio reception tests at a top speed of 20 km/h. The first trials took place in May 2016. The permanent commissioning of the electrical overhead lines took place at the end of August 2016. The closing of the gap was formally celebrated on 9 September 2016. The high-speed runs began on 17 October 2016. These ran initially at 160 km/h and the speed was afterwards increased in 20-km/h steps, ultimately to 330 km/h. The subsequent data analysis took several months. After the installation of control and signalling technology from April 2017, further operational tests, including ETCS test runs were carried out until the end of August. The first test run was carried out on 16 May 2017, at around 4 p.m., with a diesel Itino diesel multiple unit of Erfurter Bahn that was retrofitted with measuring technology and lighting to make video recordings of the total line for train drivers. The registration runs were carried out for a total of nine classes of Deutsche Bahn rolling stock. Since the commissioning of the ETCS train control system in August, all journeys on the line have been controlled from the Leipzig and Munich operating centres. At the same time, a test program with scenarios for dispatchers, train drivers and maintenance staff began. This enabled drivers to acquire route knowledge during