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Train traffic between Finland and Russia will start on 12 December 2021

7. December 2021 Press releases News and current issues

Train traffic between Finland and Russia will start again after the break which started in spring 2020. Russia signed the decree on the opening of passenger train traffic on 2 December 2021. The Vainikkala border crossing station opened for passenger traffic by decision of the border control on 18 October 2021. For other modes of transport, such as air and bus transport, the border has been open for a longer period of time. Allegro train tickets became available on Friday 3 December 2021. Travelling is only possible with health certificates.

Allegro, which runs between Helsinki and St. Petersburg, will depart twice a day in both directions from Monday to Sunday, starting from 12 December. Travelling between Finland and Russia is still restricted and requires either Finnish or Russian citizenship as well as certificates required by the health authorities of both countries.

During the journey, health security has been taken care of with comprehensive measures, such as intensified cleaning. There is hand sanitiser on board trains, the personnel wears a face mask and its use is also strongly recommended for passengers. In addition, the seat reservation algorithm distributes passengers across the wagons, where possible, in order to maximise safe distances.

“Customer safety is extremely important to us and we will continue with the comprehensive health security measures on board the trains. No chains of transmission have been detected in the trains during the pandemic. We also hope that every passenger acts responsibly – travel only when healthy,” emphasises Viktoria Hurri, Head of Finnish-Russian Passenger Services at VR.

All Finnish citizens can travel to Russia, but is expected that the first journeys will primarily be business and commercial trips.

“We believe that the first passengers will be persons with dual citizenship and those travelling for essential and business reasons to Russia. Many people also have relatives on both sides of the border and many entrepreneurs are dependent on the trade with Russia,” says Hurri.

Health certificates are required for travelling. When travelling to Russia, certificates are required for passengers of all ages and, when travelling to Finland, certificates are required for passengers born before 2006:

When arriving in Russia, a negative COVID-19 test certificate (less than 72 h, PCR)
When arriving in Finland, a COVID-19 vaccination certificate approved by the EU, a certificate of having had COVID-19 (less than 6 months ago) or a negative COVID-19 test certificate (less than 72 h, PCR).

We explain the journey terms and conditions in more detail on our website.

In train traffic, health certificates are checked in connection with checking the tickets, passports and visas. The passenger is responsible for the costs and acceptability of the certificates.

The prices of train tickets start from EUR 59 (adult one-way ticket). Allegro's timetables and tickets and more information on travelling can be found at shop.vr.fi.