GOOD AND BAD DECISIONS…

Spalding ( June 1990): Network SouthEast and Lincolnshire

County Council are preparing a report for electrification north from Peterborough, at the same time fearing for the future of the ‘Joint Line’ to Sleaford and Lincoln which requires £1.5 million modernisation.

■ It never happened. Electrification might have also included the catastrophic reduction of the line to single track. What a difference 30 years makes, with wholesale investment in the route as a key freight diversion from the East Coast Main Line.

Radcliffe- on-Soar ( June 2000): Revised proposals for the £17 million East Midlands Parkway station to serve the airport are due to be submitted this month. Midland Mainline is negotiating with the power station owner and two landowners to open for business in winter 2001.

■ After years of wrangling, it finally opened on January 26 2009. But it has been a disappointment ever since with just 360,000 passengers a year - fewer than half what was expected at the beginning, regardless of the explosion in national passenger numbers before COVID-19.

Woking ( June 2010): The bill for the eco-friendly canopy outside the station has run out at more than £4 million ( ten times over budget). It only generated £ 3,383 from electricity sales in a year, but cost £119,206 to run, with a further £ 7,884 for insurance and £ 7,500 for maintenance.

■ Despite winning praise from Prince Charles, the universally loathed white elephant was demolished in early 2018 ( the £140,000 estimate for replacing a defective solar panel was the last straw). It is still talked about as one of the most flagrant wastes of public money.