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The Wiki-train was a train party organised by some Wikimedians from central and western Europe to go to Wikimania 2010 by rail. The outbound Wiki-train left London St Pancras on July 5, 2010, was received by a group of local Wikimedians in Cologne, and arrived in Gdańsk on July 6.

The return Wiki-train left Gdańsk on July 12 and stopped in Poznań for dinner. The group arrived in Cologne in the morning of July 13, from which individual members of the train party continued to England, France and the Netherlands.

Members of the outbound Wiki-train
In Cologne, the train party was received by
Members of the return Wiki-train


nightly build …

Original planning discussions for the Wiki-train are preserved in the sections below.

For Cologne/Wikitrain meetup, see also de:Wikipedia:Treffen der Wikipedianer/Köln/Archiv#Meetup Wikitrain July 5th / Stammtisch 5. Juli (ausnahmsweise im Brauhaus Früh).

What?

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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?

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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
  • Train runs even when island volcanoes erupt.

Travellers in the main group from London

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Outbound journey

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Departing London around 13:00 July 5th, arriving in Gdansk the next day around 13:00. Cost: €190 (If we can get 10 people), otherwise €220

This journey takes us across Northern Europe in a 5–hour trip from London to Köln, diving under the English Channel and rocketing through French and Belgian countryside on the famous Eurostar. We'll disembark at Brussels for a brief stop before reboarding a brand-new high-speed train to Köln. We'll arrive mid-afternoon, whereupon we will have dinner and meet fellow travellers from elsewhere in Western Europe. After a 21:47 sunset, we'll board our sleeper train, the classic Jan Kiepura, which runs from Amsterdam to Moscow, at 22:28, arriving into Poznan at 07:32. We'll then catch a Polish Domestic train across Eastern European countryside to our destination: Gdañsk, arriving in time for a well-earned lunch.

Itinerary

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Departure Time Departure Station Train Arrival Station Arrival Time Cost (group rate) Note
12:57 London St. Pancras EST 9132 Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid 16:03 £60
16:28 Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid THA 9441 Köln Hbf 18:15 £29
  • The Brussels-Köln train comes from Paris. You can so join the Wiki-train travel at Paris Nord (departure time: 15:01).
  • There will be a meetup with local wikipedians in Cologne. Please visit Wikipedia:Köln to register.
22:28 Köln Hbf EN 447 Poznań Główny 07:19 €80 (at least 16 tickets, 2 x 6-berth, 1 x 4-berth cabins)
04:21 Berlin Ostbahnhof EN 447 - ?
08:22 Poznań Główny TLK 65100 Gdańsk Główny 13:42 PLN 40 (€10)
  • The Poznań-Gdańsk train comes from Wrocław. You can so join the Wiki-train travel at Wrocław Główny (departure time: 5:35).
  • Attention: Make certain that you getting the proper train - two trains are going away from the same platform (one train arrives from Wrocław Główny and on the station Poznań Główny is divided into two parts, one part going to Gdańsk Główny, the other to Szczecin Główny/Świnoujście.).
  • Attention 2: TLK (Tanie Linie Kolejowe eng. Cheap Train Service) when travelling in second class (8 or 6 seats per compartment) you are not assigned a seat. So it is first come, first served. If there are a lot of passangers you may end up standing, so consider buying or upgrading to first class tickets (6 seats per compartment) for the TLK train with assigned seats.

Train members

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From London
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From Brussels
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From Köln / Cologne
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  • 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. Confirmed: will join the Wiki-train at Cologne on the way to Danzig, and join the Wiki-train all the way on the way back from Danzig to London. Please contact me about ticketing details. --Deryck 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]
  • Manuel Schneider(bla) (+/-) 15:42, 22 May 2010 (UTC) + Annette and Linus (Köln - Gdansk)
From Poznan
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  • Chuck SMITH 11:08, 29 April 2010 (UTC) - 25% likely to board at Poznan

Return journey

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NOTICE: For travellers on the return Wiki-train: We're meeting in Gdańsk Główny at 12:30 to buy tickets and catch the 13:13 train to Poznan. We will meet for dinner with a few local Wikimedians in Poznań before taking the 21:33 night train to Cologne. --Deryck C. 09:10, 11 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Plans for Poznan reception fell through, unfortunately. --Deryck C. 10:25, 14 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Itinerary

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Departure Time Departure Station Train Arrival Station Arrival Time Cost (group rate)
13:13 Gdańsk Główny TLK 57102 Poznań Główny 17:35 PLN 40 (€10)
21:33 Poznań Główny EN 446 Köln Hbf 06:14 €69
06:44 Köln Hbf THA 9412 Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid 08:32 £29 (unconfirmed)
09:29 Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid EST 9119 London St. Pancras 10:26 £60 (unconfirmed)

Note: The Köln - Brussels train goes on to Paris
Attention: TLK, Tanie Linie Kolejowe means Cheap Train Service so when you are travelling in second class (8 or 6 seats per compartment) you are not assigned a seat. So it is first come, first served. If there are a lot of passangers you may end up standing, so consider buying or upgrading to first class tickets (6 seats per compartment) for the TLK train with assigned seats.

Travellers

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Travelers from other West-European countries

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From elsewhere in the UK

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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

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  • 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. For the return journey: EN 446 continues to Arnhem, Utrecht CS and Amsterdam CS.

From Belgium

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

From France

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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

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

  1. we take ICE508 from Basel SBB, arriving 15:05 in Cologne main station. --Manuel Schneider(bla) (+/-) 14:14, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

From Italy

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  • 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).

From Czech Republic

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  • From Praha (Prague), through Warsaw, leaving Prague about 06:00, arriving Warsaw about 1pm, taking overnight train to Gdansk for arrival ~7:10am on July 7th, for WikiSym. Contact http://www.twitter.com/mrjcleaver

Crazy ideas

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Meetup with local Wikipedians

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Internet connection

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  • There is wifi in St. Pancras station and on the Thalys train. It would be fun to video-blog the trip, live where possible.
  • I can provide GSM/UMTS connectivity with flatrate in Germany. It is not sufficient for video blogging (in the train), but for text it's fairly good. --Manuel Schneider(bla) (+/-) 15:45, 22 May 2010 (UTC)
  • I will provide it in Belgium (but that's a small travel portion). --Dereckson (talk) 15:41, 31 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Meetup attendees

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See also

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