By Olga Kalashnikova

The new train, named the Allegro, will cut the journey time to Finland by two hours.

A new high-speed train, the Allegro, will reduce the journey time between St. Petersburg and Helsinki to just three-and-a-half hours when it is launched on Sunday.

In order to reduce the journey time by two hours, modern rolling stock has been introduced, railway tracks reconstructed and border procedures accelerated. The new train, whose name means “fast” in Italian, can travel at up to 220 kilometers per hour.

With first-class tickets priced at 134 euros and second-class at 84 euros, the high-speed train is primarily targeted at business travelers, and the train’s range of services has been expanded accordingly.

“Business travelers are attracted by speed,” said Valeri Pentinen, sales support coordinator for Finnish state rail operator VR Group. “From May 29, 2011 there will be four daily services and businessmen will be able to make one-day business trips to St. Petersburg or Helsinki, staying in the city for eight to 10 hours.”

“People can save both time and money on hotel expenses. Every seat is equipped with electrical sockets, and there is also a meeting room in the first-class carriage,” he added.

Another target group of customers is families, as there is a designated area for baby strollers and an outer space-themed play area.

The train possesses ample space for wheelchair passengers and a lift for easy boarding, and the second-class section has designated seats where people traveling with pets can secure their animals.

The Allegro will replace the Sibelius and Repin trains that currently operate between St. Petersburg and Helsinki.

“Now there are only two trains per day, but from May 2011 there will be four daily services to each destination, so everyone will be able to find a time of departure that suits them,” said Pentinen. “So the [continued] presence of slow trains on this route would seem strange.”

The Russian night train, the Leo Tolstoy, continues to run between Moscow and Helsinki.

High-speed trains are not an innovation for Finland.

“Pendolino high-speed trains have been running in Finland for more than 10 years, and there is already a reliable experience of providing traffic safety,” said Pentinen.

In Russia, the first high-speed train, the Sapsan, was launched a year ago between St. Petersburg and Moscow.

The introduction of the Allegro aims to increase the passenger traffic between St. Petersburg and Helsinki.

“We expect that within 10 years, the rail passenger traffic between Finland and St. Petersburg will increase by about 2.5 to 3 times,” said Pentinen.

“But we are not competing with any other kind of transport, rather we complement one another. Compared with the Princess Maria ferry, we have different segments of clients. The Allegro is for those who want to get to their destination quickly and in comfort, while people who travel by ferry first of all wish to enjoy the journey, to relax and attend the show-programs on board,” he said.

The Finnish authorities advise Russian travelers to go to Finland by train, especially during the period of the winter holidays, as they predict record passenger volumes on the Finnish-Russian border. The Finnish Consulate in St. Petersburg alone has already issued more than 700,000 visas this year — 30 percent more than previous years. While the checkpoints cannot cope with such a large volume of cars, on the train, all customs and border procedures are done on board the train without incurring any additional delays.