line between Bamberg and Erfurt. Traffic forecasts from the early 1990s predicted a traffic load in the north-south direction for 2010 that could not be met on the existing lines. The operating concept for this target year envisaged 108 trains on the new line each day and in each direction, 24 passenger trains and 84 freight trains. For this purpose an Interregio service (Karlsruhe–Stuttgart–Nuremberg–Erfurt–Leipzig) would run at two-hour intervals and an Intercity/ICE service (Munich–Erfurt–Berlin) would run hourly over the new line; the old line (Großheringen–Saalfeld railway and Franconian Forest Railway) would be operated as an Interregio service. The Interregio trains of the new line would run via Coburg and Ilmenau and the IC/ICE services would run between Bamberg and Erfurt (although some services would stop during the day in Coburg). The IR journey would take 25 minutes from Ilmenau to Bamberg and about 20 minutes to Erfurt. The direct distance between Nuremberg and Erfurt is around 175 kilometres, while the travel time in 2009 was around two and a quarter hours. Decision to establish a high-speed line Today's new and upgraded line is the result of a decision of the Federal Government in April 1991 to fund the "German Unity Transport Projects", which were incorporated in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (Bundesverkehrswegeplan) 1992. The new and upgraded line was described as a "new project" with a planned total costs of Deutsche Mark (DM) 4.175 billion in the area of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn and DM 3.020 billion in the area of the former Deutsche Reichsbahn (1 January 1991 prices). The first Thuringian Minister-President, Josef Duchac, joined the Federal Minister of Transport, Günther Krause for the selection of the route corridor through Erfurt. The construction of the route was recorded in the Federal Railway Development Act (Bundesschienenwegeausbaugesetz). The Act of 15 November 1993 entered into force on 25 November 1993. The line became part of one of the newly created Trans-European corridors (Berlin–Verona) at the 1994 EU summit in Essen. Planning In the preliminary planning for the new line between Ebensfeld and Erfurt, a total of seven different options were examined. Three different options were introduced into the route selection process for the Coburg and southern Thuringia areas. In February 1992, Deutsche Bundesbahn presented three options: one running from the existing section north of Lichtenfels, via Rödental and Stadtilm to Erfurt. The second option would have branched off north of Staffelstein,