Finnish railways deploy extra trains for Russians who want to flee their own country

The Finnish railways will extend the timetable between the Russian city of St. Petersburg and the Finnish capital Helsinki, as more and more Russians want to leave their country.

The Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported on Saturday that thousands have now arrived.
In addition to the twice-daily high-speed trains Allegro, which take 3.5 hours to travel the approximately 400-kilometre long route from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, buses are also constantly full on the route.

“We had full trains from St. Petersburg starting on Sunday,” Topi Simola, senior vice president of passenger services at Finnish Railways. “They are leaving for good,” he said. “You can see it on the luggage they carry.”

According to Yle, people want to leave the area around St. Petersburg because they fear that Russia will come under martial law and that the borders will close.

“We are trying to deploy more trains on several days in the coming weeks,” a railway spokesman said. “In the direction of St. Petersburg, the compartments are almost empty.”

The Allegro Line is a joint venture between Finnish VR Group and Russian Railways, both of which are state-owned companies. The line was suspended during the pandemic but resumed operations in December.  The Finnish railways were negotiating with Russian Railways to increase service, eventually aiming to resume the pre-pandemic timetable of four trips a day.

Finland and Russia have a joint border of 1,300 kilometres.

Many Russians also try to escape their country by air from Moscow. THe flights to Dubai and Yerevan in particular are fully booked and the ticket prices have increased sharply.