well as the demolition of part of the existing entrance building and the underpass of Bahnhofstraße. As a result of the rebuilding, Erfurt Hauptbahnhof will be able to operate as a junction between the Nuremberg–Erfurt and Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed lines. A major goal of the planning was to link the ICE line between Munich and Berlin with the ICE line between Frankfurt am Main and Dresden and to reduce travel times by means of interchange. In the meantime, the construction work was suspended for two years, when it was unclear whether the two high-speed lines projects connecting with Erfurt would be realised. The new station was built in several stages, as train operations had to be fully maintained. A provisional platform for the additional track 7a was first built on the south side of the station. An island platform with nine through tracks and four bay platforms were built. The two outside located long-distance platforms 1/2 and 9/10 have a length of 420 metres. The two-aisled, 154 metre long hall roof consists of one side aisle that has a 20 metre wide span and another side aisle that has 65 metre wide span, with a maximum height of around 20 metres. The originally planned length was 190 metres. During the rebuilding of the around 2.5 kilometre-long rail junction area, soundproof walls with a total length of around 3.0 kilometres were also installed. The converted entrance hall was opened in 2005 as a first part of the new railway station. The north side of the main station was officially put into operation at the timetable change in December 2005. It consisted of a "half" glass hall on the upper floor, which spans the newly opened northern island platform with tracks 1 and 2 and partly the middle platform, as well as a shopping arcade on the ground floor and an underground car park. At this time, the planned total costs were €260 million. These funds were supplied by the state of Thuringia, the city of Erfurt and Deutsche Bahn. The next section was opened on 3 June 2007. Working to a 44-hour limit, the northern part of the platform with track 3 as well as the four new tracks 4 and 5 on the eastern platform and 6 and 7 on the western platform were put into operation. In the last phase of construction, the old southern part of the track area