Meppel, Provincie Drenthe, Netherlands

🇳🇱 Meppel is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It constitutes the south-western part of the province of Drenthe.

History Meppel developed in the 16th century as an inland harbour for peat transport and distribution. There used to be a lot of waterways in the town, but now only one remains. Meppel received city rights in 1644. On 1 October 1867, Meppel railway station opened to service, drastically improving connectivity in the region. On 1 January 1998, the municipality of Nijeveen, north-west of Meppel, was merged with that of Meppel, retaining the latter name.

Geography Meppel is located in the south-western part of the province of Drenthe in the north-eastern part of the Netherlands.

The Meppelerdiep, the Drentsche Hoofdvaart and the Hoogeveense Vaart connect Meppel to Zwartsluis, Assen and Hoogeveen. To offload professional transport vessels the Omgelegde Hoogeveense Vaart was dug out south of the city. The Meppelerdiep is accessible for boats with a size of 2,000 ton.

The streams Reest and Wold Aa run through the city. The Reest end in the Meppeler Diep.

The population centres in the municipality are: • Nijeveen • Nijentap • Havelterberg (part) • Broekhuizen • Rogat • De Schiphorst.

Transport Meppel is served by national and regional train connections with Zwolle to the south-west, which leads to the rest of the country, as well as Leeuwarden and Groningen to the north-west and north-east respectively. The city's station is located on both the Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway (Staatslijn A) and Meppel–Groningen railway (Staatslijn C).

There are regular and frequent bus lines within Meppel and towards Zwolle, Hoogeveen and Assen.