War in Ukraine: Helsinki-St Petersburg rail link interrupted
Passengers get off the Allegro train from St. Petersburg at Central Station in Helsinki, Finland, Friday, March 4, 2022. AP - Markku Ulander
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Allegro fast train, which connects the Russian city of Saint Petersburg in 3h30 to the Finnish capital, Helsinki, remained one of the few direct links between Russia and Europe.
But this Sunday, March 26, he is making his last trip.
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With our correspondent in Stockholm,
Frédéric Faux
Twice a day, the arrival of the Allegro train at Helsinki station is an event widely covered by journalists.
On board, most of the passengers are Russians, fleeing their country or Finns who want to find theirs.
They are lucky enough to have a visa, or a residence in Europe, or even a job, and they no longer see any hope in Vladimir Putin's warlike headlong rush.
The train in white livery most often leaves empty for Saint Petersburg, before returning with its share of families loaded with suitcases.
But this Sunday, March 26, the Allegro makes its last trip.
Not by unilateral decision of the Kremlin, but as a consequence of the new turn of the screw decided by the European Union, intended to isolate Russia even more.
►
To read also: War in Ukraine: what consequences for maritime transport?
“
We have to follow the new financial sanctions.
The financial transactions we need to run this train have become impossible.
That's why we had to close the line
,” says Tatu Tuominen, vice-president of the Finnish railway company, VR.
VR, at the beginning of the war, hoped to increase the frequency of its trains.
But she now believes that most of those who wanted to leave Russia for Finland were able to do so.
In recent days, indeed, the Allegro was only half full.
Trains, long crowded in the first weeks after the invasion of Ukraine with 700 passengers a day, have shown more normal occupancy rates in recent days, around 60%, according to VR.
“
So far, we have continued the Allegro service in accordance with official recommendations, in order to ensure the return of Finns to Finland,
” adds the vice-president of VR.
The Finnish government now believes that sufficient time has been given and that “
operating the service is no longer appropriate
” in view of the sanctions against Russia.
►
To read also: Ukraine: the EU puts the total embargo on Russian oil again on the sanctions table
A rail link with 100 trains per month also connects the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad to the rest of Russia via European Union territory, with a railway line running through Lithuania, but Russian citizens in transit are not allowed to disembark during its stop in Vilnius.
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