Hold that train

European trains generally run on time, but if your train is delayed and you have a tight connection, even the Swiss sometimes will hold the following train a few minutes until the arriving train comes in and passengers can transfer.

This happened to us on Oct. 9, 2009, when our Milan-to-Basel train was delayed 45 minutes by some security issue. The officials held the Luxembourg train we needed to catch, and passengers made the connection.

If you find yourself in such a situation, it doesn’t hurt to seek out the contrôleur (conductor) on the tardy train and explain your problem. We did that, and she phoned ahead to Basel to ask that the outgoing train be held.

MICHAEL MAHONEY
San Francisco, CA