 On 12 February of that year, the Minister for Railway Affairs of Austria Heinrich Ritter von Wittek brought a bill to the attention of the Imperial Council (the Austrian parliament) for the construction of new railways and public investment in them.After approval by both chambers, the Emperor signed the bill into law on 6 June 1901.Among other provisions, the law provided that the Karawanks and Wocheiner (now Bohijn) railways should be built by 1905 as main lines of the first rank.