Upgrade in Allegro services

The range of services in the 1st Class of the Allegro trains operating between Helsinki and St. Petersburg is expanding from the beginning of July. The aim of the service upgrade is to increase the amount of personal service and to offer a wider selection of choices to the customer. In connection with the change, there will be a new menu selection, and a wider range of meals on offer.

The service options will increase, and in the future the customer will be able to choose from a selection of side dishes and desserts. The changes will also significantly reduce the use of packaging, as ready meals in cardboard packages will no longer be used, and single-serving juice cartons will be replaced by juice served in glasses, poured from large cartons. The larger packaging sizes will significantly reduce the amount of waste.

"We want to offer our customers better service than before and a wide array of options. We are also making an effort to make our trains more environmentally friendly. In the future we will be able to produce a wider selection of services with less environmental impact", says Ari Vanhanen , Director of Long-Distance Services at VR. In May the service trolley in 2nd Class got a more varied selection, as the serving area expanded to 2nd Class. Increase in passenger numbers The number of passengers travelling on the Allegro trains has grown in the early part of the year by 31.1 per cent (January-May 2013) compared with last year. VR estimates that about 425,000 trips will be made in 2013, while in 2012 the number was 367,000. The increase in Allegro passenger numbers has been faster than expected.