TT Meet 2015 planning - Utrecht? [VOTE ON DATES]

[orudge]

Hey all,

So we should probably start thinking about what we want to do for the TT Meet next year. One thought that came to mind was holding it outside the UK - Amsterdam (or perhaps elsewhere in the Netherlands) came to mind. Would people (including our traditional UK attendees) be up for this? Indeed, it would also be good to get some of the continental Europeans reluctant to come to the UK to come along. Perhaps we could make it a joint TT-Forums/OpenTTD meet.

Thoughts? Alternative suggestions?

[Rubidium]

One in the Netherlands sounds interesting. If you want to visit something train-ish you'd need to go to Utrecht or Rotterdam though. Otherwise, I think a pub in either of the cities should be easy to find.

All of the mentioned cities are directly reachable by train from Schiphol. If you live in south east of the UK, it might be interesting to take the Stenaline; for GBP 75 you got the train from London (or anywhere in Greater Anglia's area) to Harwich, the boat with a bed to sleep during the night, and a day ticket for the Dutch trains (anywhere in the Netherlands). Depending on how late you want to make it, you can either take the boat that evening/night back, or take the 30 GBP cheaper trip back (without bed), but then you need to find a place to sleep.

[Hyronymus]

I agree, Utrecht (Railway Museum) or Rotterdam (Miniworld Rotterdam) would be more fitting locations. I'm positive about good pubs in Utrecht, not too common with pubs in Rotterdam though.

[Dave]

Them crazy Dutchies deserve a home meet, for sure!

[orudge]

Utrecht sounds like it might be good then, and it’s apparently only half an hour on the train from the airport. If I’d be coming, I’d probably try to fly in on Saturday morning and stay until Sunday night. Railway museum would be good, plus a good pub and whatnot. If anybody can suggest other activities, of course, that would be good too.

Could even do a day in Utrecht and a day in Rotterdam if we want to make a weekend of it.

Anyway, it’s early days yet (I’d be thinking of a meet in June perhaps), and whether we’d go ahead with this would depend on how many people are interested in attending.

[Nawdic]

Can I suggest Mulhouse (France) as well, it has Cite du Train which I am rather fond of - it is also easier for me to get to in terms of transport (Eurostar then TGV). Think of it more as "in the middle".

It also has the largest car collection in Europe.

[orudge]

Amsterdam being one of the major European air hubs, as well as a major rail hub, would be a much easier place for most people to get to, I imagine. Plus we have quite a lot of Dutch users here. I can't see that Mulhouse would be easier for most people to get to, although I'm sure it would be interesting.

[Rubidium]

Can I suggest Mulhouse (France) as well, it has Cite du Train which I am rather fond of - it is also easier for me to get to in terms of transport (Eurostar then TGV).

London - Mulhouse seems to be 6:30 with 1 change (well, walking 5 km), or 6:00 with 2 changes (using Paris' metro, so walking from Paris Gare du Nord to the RER station and probably at Paris Gare du Lyon too). London - Rotterdam is 4 hours with one change in Brussels (just cross a few platforms), London - Amsterdam 4:40 (also one change), though London - Utrecht is 5 hours with 2 changes in Brussels and Rotterdam (both crossing a few platforms).

So regarding travel, Mulhouse doesn't seem more reachable than the three Dutch suggestions from London. For the airport they suggest taking a shuttle bus to some train station and then another train, so that seems more cumbersome than arriving at Schiphol and taking a direct train (from the train station under the main arrivals/departure hall).

Utrecht and Amsterdam have a direct ICE from Frankfurt - Koln - Duisburg (Germany), Amsterdam has a direct IC from Berlin - Hannover (Germany). In both cases, the other cities are reached by one transfer.

If attendance can be estimated from the OpenTTD meets, then even by car the Netherlands will be closer for most (if not all) than Mulhouse.

Regardless, the Cite du Train looks interesting.

[Xaxa]

Seeing as I live 20 minutes away from Amsterdam Central, it'd be a shame for me to miss out on it.

[planetmaker]

I would not mind a meet in the Netherlands at all and I'm definitely interested. Most of the Netherlands is reachable within reasonable time (as all Dutchies attended the other OpenTTD meetings in Braunschweig and thus will know). Utrecht and Amsterdam are easily reachable by both train and car in half a day, and Rotterdam is a bit further but not totally out-of-line from my personal geographical perspective either. Given the rail museum in Utrecht, and that I haven't seen terribly much of that town yet anyway that'll be my personal preference.

[SHADOW-XIII]

Can't get direct Eurostar but just 1 change in Brussel is enough
Maybe someone'd be interested on travelling from London?

[Chrill]

I'm still waiting for a Stockholm meet.

Still, as always I do wish to attend. It's been a while since last time now. Netherlands or UK doesn't really matter to me though. It all depends on when it's arranged, how my finances are looking at the time, and when I'm on vacation.

[SkeedR]

Can't get direct Eurostar but just 1 change in Brussel is enough
Maybe someone'd be interested on travelling from London?

I've yet to travel anywhere in Europe so I'd be well up for a long weekend training it to the meet.

[Bad Hair Day]

I'm interested (funds permitting), especially if we make a weekend of it.

[FooBar]

I shall keep an eye on this topic. I probably should attend if there is a meet on my so-called doorstep

[JamieLei]

Sounds fun! Particularly if we could all band together into a hostel etc.

Will depend on work but put me down as a provisional 'yes'

[orudge]

How would people feel about a weekend in June? Is anything happening we should be aware of? If we're going to go ahead with this, it would be good to tie down the details in advance so people have a chance to book cheaper tickets, hotels, etc.

[Rubidium]

How would people feel about a weekend in June? Is anything happening we should be aware of? If we're going to go ahead with this, it would be good to tie down the details in advance so people have a chance to book cheaper tickets, hotels, etc.

Definitely the first weekend of July would be bad in Utrecht and around (might even reach Amsterdam/Rotterdam) since Le Tour de France starts in Utrecht. Since the whole circus is already in motion on Wednesday with the team presentations, it might not be the cheapest (accomodation wise) to go in the last weekend of June.

Besides that I'm not aware of any other major events like marathons.

[planetmaker]

From my POV any weekend in June would be fine, though I would prefer it being *NOT* the first weekend (i.e. 6th/7th June).

[Geo Ghost]

If money and time allows for me... might be an interesting change of scenery