Deutsche Bahn's project manager for the Prague – Dresden high speed rail project took questions from the public in an online forum that attracted 135 participants. During the discussion, he revealed that geological studies had already begun on the German side of the border in preparation for construction. The work will include drilling up to 400 meters into the mountainside through which a tunnel will be constructed to allow higher speed travel between the two cities. The tunnel could end up begin as much as 25 kilometers in length. Construction is expected to take until 2040 to complete, assuming that the Czech Republic can complete the planning process in time. On a special webpage devoted to the project, Deutsche Bahn informed the public that it had completed space planning procedures on its side of the border. Once completed, the new high speed link would shorten the trip from Prague to Usti nad Labem to just 30 minutes. Getting to Berlin could be accomplished within 150 minutes.