The move to complete the Derry-Coleraine link upgrade in time for the 2013 year of City of Culture Derry will please the campaigners and residents who have been pushing for extra funding.

But at the moment the target completion date is April 2013, for phase one of the project. This would already mean a quarter of the year of culture will have to make do without the rail link which has been deemed so vital.

And that’s if work is completed on time.

With signalling work still to be done after that, as well as completing the passing loop and remaining bridge works, it will be a far cry from a fully-functioning, just finished service.

It could be argued that some part of the line, and at least the ability to run services for part of the year are better than not having it at all. But a half-finished, rushed project might not give the best impression to all the visitors Derry is expecting.