Karelian Trains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oy Karelian Trains Ltd is a joint venture agreed on 23 November 2006 between Russian Railways (RZhD) and VR (Finnish Railways) to operate international express passenger rail services between Helsinki, Finland and St Petersburg, Russia. Karelian Trains is registered in Helsinki, VR and RZhD both own 50% of the shares.[1]
Karelian Trains are expected to take over the service in late 2009 using Alstom Pendolino trains ordered in September 2007.[2] Investments will also be made in infrastructure to enable higher speeds to be achieved. Together, this will cut journey times between the two cities from the current 5½ hours to about 3 hours. The new trains will be dual voltage, capable of operating on VR's 25 kV AC and RZhD's 3 kV DC electrification systems.
Visas are required for many foreign nationals to enter Russia and for Russians to enter Finland; passport and customs checks will be conducted on board the trains.
[edit] References
- ^ Karelian Trains gets go-ahead. Railway Gazette International (November 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ Karelian Trains awards Pendolino contract. Railway Gazette International (2007-09-05). Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
[edit] See also
- Finland station, St. Petersburg
- Helsinki Central railway station
- Riihimäki-Saint Petersburg railroad
