Allegro (train)
Allegro is a high-speed train service, operating Alstom VR Class Sm6 trains, between Helsinki, Finland, and St. Petersburg, Russia. The service started on 12 December 2010. The aim is to reduce travel time between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg: before Allegro, the journey time was 5½ hours; currently it is 3 hours and 27 minutes over a journey of and there are plans to bring it down to 3 hours. The name Allegro is a musical term for a quick tempo, thereby suggesting "high speed". During the 2022 Russian financial crisis, in the aftermath of international sanctions placed  on Russian companies following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Allegro train became a primary means for people to leave Russia. As European airspace had been closed to Russian planes, and Russian airspace is closed to European planes, the train is the only passenger connection between Russia and the European Union. EU authorities have asked VR to keep this train running so that those wishing to leave Russia can do so (though as part of COVID-19 restrictions, only Finnish and Russian citizens had been allowed to use the train, and it runs only twice a day at half-capacity , of 327 passengers; but operators had been working to lift those restrictions in order to allow the evacuation of other nationals). The train has been suspended since 27 March 2022 due to the aforementioned sanctions. Route. Allegro connects the following stations: The trains also stopped previously in Pasila like every other passenger train from and to Helsinki, but this stop was discontinued between 27 March 2016 and 29 March 2020, when the stop in Pasila was revived. Vainikkala (on the Finnish side of the border) and Vyborg are special stations: on trains bound for Finland, passengers are not allowed to  leave the train at Vyborg, as the train only stops to pick up passengers; and on trains bound for Russia, passengers are not allowed to leave the train at Vainikkala, for the same reason. Passport and Customs controls. On board the train, each passenger is visited by Finnish passport control and customs officers, as well as their Russian counterparts. Finnish border control takes place while the train is travelling between Kouvola and Vainikkala, while Russian border control takes place while the train is travelling between Vyborg and St Petersburg. If boarding/exiting at Vainikkala or Vyborg, the checks take place  inside these stations. Vehicles. The Allegro service is operated using Class Sm6 trainsets built by Alstom. Sm6 stands for electric multiple unit (, literally 'electric motor train') model 6. The Sm6 appears similar to VR's earlier Sm3 Pendolino series, but is based on the fourth generation 'Pendolino Nuovo' or 'New Pendolino' designs and its construction differs from the Sm3 in many ways. The top speed of the train in passenger traffic is which can be reached between Kerava and Lahti. The train can run at a speed of between Tikkurila and Luumäki and Vyborg and St. Petersburg after extensive rail  works. The aim is to reduce travel time between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg from 5½ hours to 3 hours. The travel time was 3:27. The Sm6 is equipped to operate on both the Finnish and the Russian railway networks. The units have dual-voltage electrical equipment able to use both the Finnish 25 kV 50 Hz alternating current and the Russian 3 kV direct current electrification. The wheelsets are built to run at over speeds on both the Finnish and the nominally slightly narrower Russian gauge, and the doors are equipped with a retractable step to make boarding from both  Finnish high and Russian high platforms easy. The units are equipped for both the Finnish and Russian railway technical systems, which differ substantially. Russian-Finnish cooperation. The trains are owned by Karelian Trains, a 50–50 joint venture between VR Group (Finnish Railways) and Russian Railways (RZD). The trains are able to run on both Finnish and Russian tracks. On board the inaugural service were Finnish president Tarja Halonen and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin.