50,166 PEOPLE SIGN CAMPAIGN PETITION, JUL 19

The Thameslink decision caused widespread anger among the Derby public – and this strength of feeling manifested itself in a petition organised by Derby North MP Chris Williamson.

During the last major economic crisis the city faced, when Rolls-Royce called in the receivers in 1971, a 20,000-name petition was collected calling on the Government to intervene.

Following the Department for Transport's decision to name Siemens as the preferred bidder for Thameslink, Mr Williamson launched a petition in Derby calling on the Government to change its mind and give the work to Bombardier.

Over the course of only three weeks he collected 50,166 names.

The Derby Telegraph printed a copy of the petition in the paper, which yielded 7,484 names.

When Mr Williamson handed over the petition, he had to transport it to the Houses of Parliament in a wheelbarrow.

And a Labour colleague had to help him carry the petition to the dispatch box once in the House of Commons.

Mr Williamson described the number of people who had put pen to paper to show solidarity with the city's train-makers as "staggering".

DERBY DELEGATION VISITS BERLIN, JUL 1

When Bombardier announced it was to carry out a review of its UK operations, the immediate concern among city leaders was the implications for the firm's Litchurch Lane plant.

Alarmingly, Bombardier said it would not rule out its closure.

One of the first moves by political and business leaders in the city was to set up a meeting with Bombardier top brass at its passengers division in Berlin.

The objective of the trip was to clarify Bombardier's position and to personally deliver the message that the city wanted Bombardier to stay in Derby.

The Derby delegation consisted of Derby City Council leader Philip Hickson, the authority's chief executive, Adam Wilkinson, Derby Telegraph editor Steve Hall, Marketing Derby managing director John Forkin and Peter Richardson, chairman of the Derby Renaissance Board.

Together, they met with Stephane Rambaud-Measson, president of Bombardier's passengers division, to ask what needed to be done to keep open the Derby factory.

At the meeting, Mr Rambaud-Measson was unable to give an assurance that the firm's Litchurch Lane plant would remain open and confirmed that "restructuring" would be required.

He also warned that much of the work being carried out by the 3,000 employees in the city would run out by September and said there was little hope currently of any new orders for Derby, from the UK or elsewhere.

Following the meeting, Derby's delegation returned from Berlin with a determination to spell out to the Government the severity of the situation and put pressure on Ministers to bring forward work that could save Litchurch Lane.

MARCH AND RALLY IN DERBY, JUL 23

July 23, 2011, is a date that will go down in the city's history books – it was the day when the Derby people took to the streets in support of Bombardier.

Before the event, no-one was quite sure how many people would take part in the protest march, which started from the Bass Recreation Ground and culminated in a rally at Cathedral Green.

Police estimated that around 3,000 would take part. On the day, around 10,000 people turned up.

The marchers consisted of Bombardier workers, past and present, who brought along their families.

Marching with them were members of the senior management from Bombardier's Litchurch Lane factory.

The marchers included politicians of all political hues, walking together, side by side.

Business leaders marched alongside union leaders.

And ordinary members of the Derby public, some of whom had no connection with Bombardier, joined the ranks, simply because they had been so incensed by the Government's decision to overlook the firm for the Thameslink contract.

And it was not just Derby people who took part. Protesters from all over the country, including Bombardier workers from the firm's maintenance and signalling sites elsewhere in the UK, descended on Derby to show their solidarity.

The sea of banners and placards snaking its way through the city centre streets was greeted by warm applause by onlookers.

It was a symbolic show of unity, which attracted media interest from across the country.

Those who organised the protest believe that, although it may not have changed the Thameslink decision, the sight of so many people taking to the streets pricked the nation's conscience and made Whitehall take notice.

Mark Young, regional co-ordinating officer for the Unite union, said the turnout on the day had "blown away" his expectations.

Following the march, a rally was held on Cathedral Green. The crowd were addressed by a number of speakers, including Mr Hickson, Derby South MP Margaret Beckett, Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT union, and Mr Hall.

Colin Walton, Bombardier's UK chairman, stood up to thank the Derby public for their support.

DERBY COUNTY BACKS CAMPAIGN, AUG 6

The campaign to save Bombardier received another major boost when Derby County gave the Bombardier workers its backing.

Football rivalry was transcended on that Saturday afternoon in August when workers from Bombardier took to the pitch at Pride Park Stadium before Derby County's home fixture with Birmingham City.

A near sell-out crowd of more than 30,000 people – including the 3,000 Birmingham fans – got to their feet and gave them a standing ovation.

The applause continued as the group of Bombardier workers proudly held aloft a banner that read "Derby United – Save Our Rail Industry."

It was just one of a number of events that took place at the game, which showed the Rams' support for Bombardier.

Prior to the game, the Derby players had run on to the pitch wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the same logo as the banner that was unfurled in the centre circle.

As a way of boosting their morale, the club had donated seats to Bombardier staff and their children for the game. In his programme notes, Derby manager Nigel Clough had expressed his support for them.

JOBS PROTEST GOES TO LONDON, SEP 7

Following the Rolls-Royce 'crash' of 1971, a specially chartered train travelled to London carrying Rolls-Royce workers who went on to march through the capital, calling on the Government to help the stricken company.

Forty years later, on September 7, it was very much a case of history repeating itself – only this time it was Bombardier workers travelling to London.

Despite repeated calls for Prime Minister David Cameron and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond to come to Derby discuss the future of the train-maker, neither had taken up the invitation.

About 200 people, made up of Bombardier workers and supporters, boarded the specially named "Spirit of Derby" train, supplied by East Midlands Trains.

Once in the capital, the workers unfurled a banner outside the Houses of Parliament, which read: "Time to Save British Rail Manufacturing".

But the message, which a delegation from Derby put to Mr Hammond during a face-to-face meeting inside Parliament that day, was that time was running out.

But during the meeting, Mr Hammond steadfastly stuck by the Government line that it could not reverse the Thameslink deal.

Meanwhile, during Parliamentary Question's earlier in the day, Mr Cameron appeared unaware of the seriousness of the situation, saying that he supported Bombardier and hoped it would be successful in the future.

The mood among Bombardier supporters following the meeting with Mr Hammond was downcast.

But they were satisfied that, whatever happened, the Government could not say it had not been warned.

All round it was a key day for getting the Bombardier campaign noticed in the corridors of power.

On the same day, the Transport Select Committee, an influential panel of MPs, heard evidence about the Thameslink contract at a specially convened hearing.

During the session, Professor Karel Williams, an academic at the University of Manchester, pointed out that the Department for Transport's decision to make the firms' credit ratings a key factor meant Bombardier's chances of winning Thameslink were doomed from the start.

THERESA VILLIERS VISITS AT LAST, NOV 14

After cancelling an appearance in Derby to attend to constituency business, Transport Minister Theresa Villiers finally visited Derby – the first time anyone from the Government had visited Derby since the Thameslink decision.

During her visit she met with Bombardier management, workers, politicians, unions and city leaders at the Litchurch Lane plant.

Union leaders were left frustrated that her visit was used as a listening exercise rather than a platform from which to announce a contract that could save the factory.

What her visit did was focus the thinking of city leaders – and move the fight to save Bombardier into another phase.

City leaders were told by Bombardier that two smaller contracts held the key to the factory's short-term fate.

The first was a £188 million order for 130 Electrostar trains for Southern Railway.

The other contract was the £127 million eVoyager project, which involved converting an existing fleet of diesel Cross Country Voyager trains to electrical hybrids.

This would involve building an extra carriage for each train, which would carry a pantograph – a roof array which connects to overhead power lines, enabling upgraded trains to also run using electric power.

TRANSPORT SELECT COMMITTEE, DEC 16

The campaign to overturn Thameslink was reinvigorated when the Transport Select Committee called for an independent review of the Government's decision to choose German firm Siemens for the £1.4 billion contract instead of Bombardier.

The committee also said that if ministers sealed the Thameslink deal with Siemens they should publicly set out their reasons for doing so and explain the difference in cost between the two bids.

Committee chairman Louise Ellman said: "We could not evaluate whether the decision to choose Siemens was arrived at correctly because all of the bids were and remain confidential.

"We believe that in the public interest an independent review must evaluate whether this massive contract was awarded correctly on the basis of the criteria in the original invitation to tender."

Ms Ellman's committee spelled out the importance of retaining a UK train design and manufacturing capability and welcomed efforts to reform processes under which government contracts were awarded.

"We hope that this new approach does not come too late for the Bombardier plant in Derby," the report said.

There had been criticism of the Government's decision to accept a bid from Siemens when the firm had been mired in corruption allegations over contracts awarded outside the UK.

The committee urged the Department for Transport to take a "robust attitude" to any future allegations of corruption "and not to hold back from excluding firms from procurement exercises where there is sound evidence of corruption."

HOPES RAISED FOR EVOYAGER CONTRACT, DEC 24

Hopes were raised that Bombardier could be a step closer to securing one of the two contracts it needed to keep Litchurch Lane open.

New Transport Secretary Justine Greening told the firm's president, Andre Navarri, she was "enthusiastic" about pushing ahead with the £127 million eVoyager project, which the Department for Transport concluded was "a viable proposition".

She instructed her team to work closely with Bombardier on pricing up the project, representing the clearest indication yet that the work could head the way of the Derby company.

Ms Greening said: "I am enthusiastic about proceeding with the project, subject to ensuring taxpayer value.

"I've instructed my officials to work closely with Bombardier and other parties involved so that technical and business case work can be completed as soon as possible and a firm decision can be made on this project."

BOMBARDIER WINS SOUTHERN DEAL, DEC 28

Finally, Bombardier workers were given something to cheer about after it was announced that the firm had won the Southern Railway deal.

The Government revealed exclusively to the Derby Telegraph that it was providing an £80 million subsidy towards the deal.

The contract would see workers at Litchurch Lane build 130 Electrostar railway carriages.

Ms Greening said: "This deal for more than 100 new carriages is great news for rail passengers and brilliant news for Bombardier and Derby.

"It lands Bombardier with a crucial train order. I look forward to workers in Derby being among the winners of this important deal."

She said the contract, "helped along" by her department, showed her "determination to invest in Britain's railways", adding: "Our support for Southern will boost capacity while helping British jobs. I can't think of a better outcome."

The Derby-built carriages would be introduced by Southern in December 2013.

While welcoming the deal, Bombardier stopped short of saying the work would ultimately save the factory.

It said its UK review would continue, while it awaited the outcome of eVoyager and the £1 billion Crossrail contract.

How the Derby Telegraph featured the plight of Bombardier