Train to Finland only way out for many Russians

(5 Mar 2022) Increasing numbers of Russians are making their way to the European Union using one of the last remaining travel links — the high-speed train from St. Petersburg to the Finnish capital Helsinki.
This comes after Western sanctions resulted in suspended flights from Russia to the 27-member European bloc and the U.S.
The Allegro, a joint venture between VR, Finland's state-owned railway company, and its Russian counterpart RZD, runs two daily services between St. Petersburg and Helsinki, a 3.5-hour journey by high-speed train.
One of those disembarking Saturday afternoon was Angelique, who was visiting family with her children when their flight home to New York was cancelled.
"We had to change our flight, and it's just a very serious problem," she said. "The relationship between two good countries are not good right now. But I hope that will get better soon."
Other passengers included parents visiting their child in the EU, a group of women visiting for the weekend, and an engineer heading for a skiing holiday in Georgia.
Viktoria Hurri, director of VR's Finnish-Russian passenger services, said demand for tickets had increased over the past week with trains fully booked over the weekend through Monday.
She said there were plans to put in an extra daily service from St. Petersburg to Helsinki and back.
Due to the pandemic and border restrictions, only holders of Finnish and Russian passports are allowed to travel on the train, effectively preventing large numbers of people from leaving Russia rapidly.
Hurri said VR was in talks with Russian authorities to allow third-country nationals to board the train, too.
This would give European Union nationals an easier route to exit Russia.

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