chris:
Bit of a late response but years ago there was a good long distance diary in T&D about an H&S foodstuffs driver who used the train you mention, I remember him saying that he’d parked the truck on the train with plenty of spare time and decided to go for a beer at a bar nearby but he couldn’t relax because he kept having visions that the train was gonna pull out the station…without him on it
I don’t believe everything I read but Freiburg has two trains, one goes to Novara, the other goes to Milan, its possible if you work for Norman Lewis to get in the wrong carriage. Apparently there is a reliable taxi service from Novara to Milan but you do get a bollocking if you use a taxi. That is right isn’t it Peter?