From March 28, Finnish Railways, St. It will suspend the Allegro train between St. Petersburg and Helsinki. This was stated by the company VR Group, which operates trains together with Russian Railways.
Earlier, the Finnish edition of Helsingin Sanomat reported that the Allegro train will stop operating from Saturday, March 26. Shortly before that, Tytti Tuppurainen, Finnish Minister of European Development and Public Property, sent a letter to the railway company VR Group.
Currently, St. He states that further operation of the train between Petersburg and Helsinki is “inappropriate and inappropriate”.
On February 28, VR Group reported that trains will continue to operate despite sanctions against Russia. With the closure of direct flights between the EU and Russia, the demand for a single open railway route increased significantly, and it was decided to increase the number of trains. VR Group wanted to leave this link so that Finnish citizens and others who wish can leave Russia.
From the end of February to the end of March, an average of 500 to 900 passengers per day crossed the Russian-Finnish border on Allegro trains.
Allegro electric trains, St. It travels 407 km between St. Petersburg and Helsinki in 3.5 hours. The train takes its name from the musical term “allegro” (the tempo is called “fun, cheerful, cheerful”), reminiscent of the name of the Sibelius train, named after the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, which ran on this route before.
If you go from Russia to Finland, a train ticket will cost less than 100 euros. There is a simplified customs control during the movement of the train.
window to europe
st. The project for a high-speed rail link between Petersburg and Helsinki was launched in 2001 – at that time the presidents of Russia and Finland came to an agreement on this. However, the first test flight took place only in 2010. The trains, which continued their voyages for 10 years, took a break in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2021, the Allegro movement was partially restored. At the same time, only Finns and Russians could use the route.
The trains were used by the Italian-made Pendolino brand. The operation is carried out by Oy Karelian Trains Ltd, a joint project of Russian Railways and VR Group.
In social networks, people react differently to the closing of the “window to Europe”. Fontanka’s St. Petersburg edition, they write: “published and enough”, “shopping in Finland will be closed, locals will suffer, trains may be sent to other lines or to Vyborg”, “carefully – the iron curtain falls.” In fact, someone just learned about this train, and someone accuses the Finnish authorities of Russophobia.
Source: Gazeta
