Crossword Genius

Disused railway’s time for completion? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deadline

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'time for completion?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to time as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'disused railway's' is the wordplay.
'disused' becomes 'dead' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'railway' becomes 'line' (line is a kind of railway).
'dead'+'line'='DEADLINE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deadline that I've seen before include "Latest time for doing something" , "Time-limit as for journalist's copy" , "problem for the editor?" , "Target time" , "Fixed completion date" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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