BRTA attends the Northampton Umbrella Fair - creating a bit of a splash

On Saturday 21st September Professor Andrew Williams, James from Leicester, David Ferguson and Richard Pill attended the ‘environmental’ Northampton Umbrella Fair at The Racecourse in Northampton. We had a stall and did the following:

1. Gave out leaflets promoting the 5th October Leicester Public Meeting

2. Collected signatures for a petition. Despite the rain and thunder which interrupted an otherwise pleasant day, we collected hovering 100 signatures and aim to repeat the exercise.

Sought petition signatures in favour of a Northampton-Market Harborough new-build rail link which would give a mere 35 minutes Leicester-Northampton direct rail-based transit time, contrast James, a Student from Leicester University, who tried to use rail via existing lines and service and took 150 minutes each way on a very circuitous existing set of lines and connections. We had a pleasant day, but then it rained and thundered.

Richard Pill, CEO of BRTA and Professor Andrew Williams wore the new T-Shirts promoting a direct rail link between Northampton-Market Harborough-Leicester, which would give a direct 35 minutes transit time, contrast by existing circuitous rail links of 150 minutes each way with 2 changes of train! Over the years buses have been cut, but A508 traffic proliferates with development abounding.

We collected over 100 signatures on a mixed-weather day, whereby half way through a massive thunder storm and heavy rail intervened. Otherwise, a good day, many people, much discussion and a good vibe.

We hope to make it an annual attendance to tap into potential like-minds and support.