contracts were to run from June 2009 to the end of April 2012. At the end of May 2009, this was followed by the invitation to tender for the contract for the ballastless section 4 (km 251.1 to km 272.1) as well as the ballastless section 5 including the Gröbers junction (km 279.9 bis km 286.9). These contracts were to run from November 2009 to November 2012 (lot 4) and from July 2010 to December 2015 (lot 5). In July 2009, finally, the integration of the line into the Erfurt junction was tendered, which would be built between December 2009 and December 2010. In July 2011, a contract worth €200 million was awarded for the production of slab track and for of noise and wind barriers between Erfurt and Gröbers. This work would be completed by the end of 2013. The proposed line speed in the 1990s was stated as partly , and partly , The design speed was always set at . The line speed limit was later raised to . Between Gröbers and Leipzig Messe it is now set at ; from Leipzig Messe to Leipzig Hbf the permitted speed is . A total of around 15,000 land parcels were affected by the construction projects. The area required for the line is specified as 370 hectares, of which 160 hectares are for the track. Environmental and landscape planning compensatory measures are scheduled for an area of about 2000 hectares. Construction The turning of the sod ceremony was held for the link between Gröbers and Leipzig on 2 October 1996. The Secretary of State Johannes Nitsch, Saxon Economics Minister Kajo Schommer and DB Chairman Ulf Häusler laid the foundations for a 130 m long pedestrian and cycle bridge over the six-lane Autobahn and the planned new line. In mid-1997, the archaeological investigation was carried out between Leipzig and Gröbers. In mid-1999, the Federal Minister of Transport Franz Müntefering stopped the construction work that had already begun. He justified this by the underfunding of the transport budget. The projects could be taken up at a later time if the traffic demand was rising and sufficient funds were available. New investment finance for new construction projects should be diverted to the development of the existing network. Construction on the new line was limited to the section between Leipzig and Gröbers to improve the market share of the airport link. A delay