OREANDA-NEWS. January 17, 2011. During the first month since the Allegro operations began on 12 December 2010, the express train has carried over 23,000 passengers between St. Petersburg - Helsinki - St. Petersburg, with average capacity at over 83% during the New Year holiday period. Some runs were nearly full.

The Allegro departs from St. Petersburg for Helsinki twice daily at 6:40 and 15:25 and from Helsinki to St. Petersburg at 10:00 and 15:00.

The start of the high-speed service between St. Petersburg and Helsinki was a joint decision between Russia and Finland and has reduced travel time from 6 hours 18 minutes to just over 3.5 hours. The travel time on Russian territory has fallen from 3 hours 11 minutes to 1.5 hours.

This has been achieved not only by the technically advanced Allegro, which in Russia reaches a maximum speed of 200 kph and in Finland 220 kph, but also by carrying out customs and passport formalities on board while the train is in motion.