FEBRUARY 9, 2012, will go down as one of the most significant dates in Derby's industrial history.

OK, it doesn't quite rank with the building of the nation's first factory at the Silk Mill in 1721 or the rescue of Rolls-Royce after its spectacular 1971 crash.

But yesterday's announcement by Bombardier that it is to retain its design and manufacturing base in the city is, nonetheless, massively important for Derby, the region and the UK as a whole.

The move safeguards the jobs of 1,600 workers at the Litchurch Lane plant and thousands more in its local supply chain.

And it ensures the nation that gave railways to the world retains the ability to build its own trains.

Each of those would be reason enough for massive celebration. But the resolution of the Bombardier crisis should also be heralded for the change that it provoked in Derby's character.

It was a time when the city united, developed a new confidence, found its voice and forced a successful outcome that eight months ago few, honestly, thought possible.

Even among those closest to the campaign, there was little hope that the Government would reverse its decision to award the £1.4bn Thameslink rail deal to German firm Siemens instead of Bombardier – however perverse that decision still appears.

There was also a massive fear that Bombardier, having missed out on the Government's IEP contract to Hitachi two years earlier, had lost faith in the UK and was ready to turn the key in the lock of the operation here.

But both ministers and the company have been persuaded – at least to a point – by the strength of the reaction from 'Team Derby'.

Thameslink may not have been overturned but there is little doubt that the two contracts, Southern and (hopefully) eVoyager, conjured up to provide relief for a Bombardier workforce running out of trains to make, would not have appeared without 10,000 people taking to our city's streets, 50,000 signing petitions and hundreds travelling on a special train to lobby Parliament.

Neither would there have been a change in procurement rules, allowing UK firms a better chance of winning Government contracts and giving Bombardier a strategic reason to remain in the country.

Ministers were amazed by the response and confounded by the campaign's refusal to die away. They did not understand that the rail industry is in our DNA – and we were not going to let it die.

There are many who deserve praise for their contributions.

Politicians of all colours have united in Derby's cause. The city council has played a massive role. Marketing Derby and the city Renaissance Board had key parts, as did the unions and, we would humbly venture, this newspaper, which has featured Bombardier's plight in its columns every single day since the Thameslink announcement on June 16.

But the biggest vote of thanks should go to Bombardier's workers and their families, who simply refused to be beaten.

While the company says it still needs to win further contracts to continue in Derby after 2014, we are convinced that the same spirit that has seen Derby's railmen and women prevail through such trying times will carry them to a bright new future.