Wikipedia:Meetup/Wiki-train

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What?

A large number of people will be attending Wikimania, and many of those will pass through London to get to Danzig. Since large amounts of travel are taxing on the mind and body, I thought we should organise some sort of amusement for the travel-ees and group together for the journey to Danzig itself. Ironholds (talk) 14:35, 15 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why the train?

Some of us prefer to travel by rail for many perhaps irrational reasons, including:

Trains are more comfortable and dignified than planes.
Going by rail gives you the chance to see the sights along the way. Our proposed itinerary includes stopovers in Brussels, Belgium, Cologne in Germany, and Poznan in Poland.
We like the copious opportunities to sit around and chat, play games, etc during the journey.
Going by rail is more adventurous than going by air – it is fun, and the journey itself is interesting.
Train stations are more convenient than airports.
Lower carbon footprint

Proposed itineraries

Dates and times to be advised. Please don't book anything yet, we'd like to look into the possibility of group bookings / booking out full sleeper rooms for all of us / whatever

Travellers in the main group from London

Departing London around 13:00, arriving in Gdansk the next day around 13:00. Cost estimated at around 140€ per person (youth rate; higher rate applies to people over 25)

This takes less time, but involves less daytime travel, which might be a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view. There are fewer stopovers, so fewer opportunities for meeting newcomers at train stations. The night train, however, stops in many major cities in Germany and the Netherlands, and so it would be possible for travellers to join the train in Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Hannover, Berlin and many other places. Note, however, that the stop in Berlin is at 04:24 :) Full list of stops here.

Eurostar from London St. Pancras International to Brussels South (Zuid/Midi) station
Thalys from Brussels South (Zuid/Midi) station to Köln Hauptbahnhof.
Dinner in Köln.
Night train EN 447 ("Jan Kiepura") from Köln Hauptbahnhof to Poznan Glowny (second class Saving-Night/Normal: reclining seat 29/101 €, 1 person in 6-berth cabin 49/119 €).
Polish TLK from Poznan Glowny to Gdansk Glowny.

Travelers from other West-European countries

From elsewhere in the UK

Buy a ticket to London International (CIV). Most station staff will not have heard of this destination, its code is LNE and its NLC is 5470. This ticket includes all British Rail and TfL trains to get to St. Pancras. Details at seat61 Be sure to join the London meetup as well if you can :)

From the Netherlands

Take domestic trains to Amsterdam CS/Utrecht CS/Arnhem, change to the ICE International to Köln Hbf-Frankfurt Hbf and join the group at Köln Hbf OR take the aforementioned IC to Berlin and change at Rheine to the IC to Köln Hbf OR join the sleeper train in Amsterdam at 19:38.

From Belgium

Take domestic trains to Brussel-Zuid/Bruxelles-Midi and join the group there.

From France

Take domestic trains to Paris Nord and change to the Thalys to Köln Hbf. The group will get on this train at Brussel-Zuid/Bruxelles-Midi

From Germany

Take domestic trains to Köln Hbf, Hannover Hbf or Berlin Hbf (whichever makes sense) and join the group there.

From Italy

From Milano, joining group dinner at Köln: EC 14, EC 6 (Milano Centrale 9:10 – Zürich HB 12:51-13:08 – Köln Hbf 19:05) (2nd class: special fares 43,50/63,50 €, standard fares 148,10 €).

Other possibilities

From Milano, joining group at Köln: EC 52, ICE 870, IC 2318 (Milano Centrale 11:20 – Basel SBB 15:32-16:12 – Mannheim Hbf 18:23-18:39 – Köln Hbf 21:05) (2nd class: special fares 43,50/93,50 €, standard fares 159,50 €).
From Milano, joining group at Dortmund: EC 52, ICE 870, ICE 514 (Milano centrale 11:20 – Basel SBB 15:32-16:12 – Mannheim Hbf 18:23-18:35 – Dortmund hbf 21:21) (2nd class: special fares 43,50/63,50 €, standard fares 191,50).
From Milano, joining group at Hannover: EC 18, ICE 272 (Milano Centrale 13:10 – Zürich HB 16:51-17-02 – Hannover Hbf 00:03) (2nd class: special fares 43,50/? €, standard fares 182,10 €).
From Milano, joining group at Hannover: EC 34, IC 831, ICE 376, ICE 592, ICE 732 (Milano Centrale 12:25 – Brig 14:16-14:49 – Bern 15:54-16:04 – Mannheim Hbf 19:14-19:31 – Göttingen 21:59-22:05 – Hannover Hbf 22:40) (2nd class: special fares 43,50/63,50 €, standard fares 187,50 €).
From Milano, joining group at Berlin: EC 52, ICE 870 (Milano Centrale 11:20 – Basel SBB 15:32-16:12 – Berlin Hbf 23:25) (2nd class: special fares 43,50/103,50 €, standard fares 197,50 €).
From Milano, joining group at Berlin: EC 34, IC 831, ICE 376, ICE 592 (Milano Centrale 12:25 – Brig 14:16-14:49 – Bern 15:54-16:04 – Mannheim Hbf 19:14-19:31 – Berlin Hbf (tief) 00:23) (2nd class: special fares 43,50/63,50 €, standard fares 197,50).

Schedule

4 July

Standard London meetup. The London meetup is normally held in the Penderel's Oak; see this for an example page. Meeting at 1:00pm as usual, continuing until whenever people get bored. For those going to Wikimania and any others interested, more events will be arranged during the evening, probably consisting of a trip to a restaurant, before we retire back to our respective beds. Accommodation is something that needs to be discussed.

5-6 July

Travel onboard the Wiki-train! The train is preferable to a plane journey in terms of comfort, cost and not having to blast through the atmosphere at 30,000 feet with little more than a thin tin can and a set of flimsy air hostesses for protection (and air hostesses make lousy caulking).

We'll probably meet at St. Pancras Station at around 10:30–11:00, for a 12:00 departure from St. Pancras Station (giving us time for an early lunch if necessary, and possibly video-blogging, as well as allowing buffer time to find each other). We'll arrive in Köln with plenty of time for dinner (and for people from other parts of Western Europe to join us), and then depart for Poland at around 22:30–23:00.

The following day, we'll arrive into Poznan in the early morning (~07:30), and take a 5-hour Polish domestic train to Gdańsk.

7-11 July

Danzig! Accommodation is for individual train-members to organise. Board meetings are taking place for those in the loop; for everyone else, WikiSym is occurring. From 9-11 July Wikimania will be on (duh)

11-12 July?

Travel back (to be confirmed)

Crazy ideas

There is wifi in St. Pancras station and on the Thalys train. It would be fun to video-blog the trip, live where possible.

Meetup attendees

Ironholds (talk) 14:35, 15 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
— Werdna • talk 03:03, 20 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Colds7ream (talk) 19:16, 28 February 2010 (UTC) - This is an epic idea! :-D[reply]
Witty Lama 13:40, 12 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
75% sure Bastique ^demandez 17:58, 19 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
James F. (talk) 20:58, 16 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Train-members

Ironholds (talk) 14:35, 15 February 2010 (UTC) and partner[reply]
Shimgray | talk | 22:31, 15 February 2010 (UTC) - tentatively, at least.[reply]
— Werdna • talk 11:38, 17 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Catrope (talk) can't make the outbound journey, but if a similar thing is organized for the return journey, I'm in
Colds7ream (talk) 19:16, 28 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Witty Lama 13:40, 12 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
75% sure Bastique ^demandez 17:58, 19 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Totally like this idea, although he wants to spend even more time in Germany! Will probably head to Germany another week early and join the trip at Cologne. --Der yck C. 14:58, 27 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I will probably be spending time in Cologne after Wikimania, instead of before. — Andrew Garrett • talk 04:48, 6 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
James F. (talk) 20:58, 16 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Chuck SMITH 11:08, 29 April 2010 (UTC) - probably boarding at Poznan