YLE and Helsingin Sanomat wrote last weekend that there will be almost no vacancies on VR’s Allegro trains from St. Petersburg to Helsinki in the coming days.
Allegro is currently the only regular train service from western Russia to Europe, According to YLE. VR informed the broadcaster that it intends to increase the services on the route due to high demand and emphasized that it would do its utmost to ensure the safety of the services.
“At least in a couple of days next week, we will be looking for extra Allegro traffic between St. Petersburg and Helsinki.” Lauri SipponenVR Group’s President and CEO, stated To YLE on Saturday.
“We are in daily contact with the State Department and other authorities and have received assurances that we can continue the service safely. If the service were under any security threat, we would not be operating to St. Petersburg.
According to Sipponen, the route from St. Petersburg to Helsinki is not very profitable. “Trains going in the other direction are virtually empty. The financial situation is not good for VR, but we are fulfilling our social service obligation, ”he explained.
According to YLE, buses from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Riga and Tallinn are also full.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin on saturday said during a televised appearance that he did not intend to declare a state of war on Russia, which could give him virtually absolute power to hasten the already severe eradication of anti-war differences.
Thousands have been arrested in anti-war protests across the country since February 24, the first day of Putin’s Russian invasion of Ukraine. Freedom of the press has also been severely restricted, and news agencies have been banned from referring to the attack as an attack, assault, or war.
Darja GulikProject Manager at the Association of Finnish Russian-speaking Organizations (Faro) told me Helsingin Sanomat has received dozens of messages from Russians asking for help traveling to Finland. Most of the messages are from people who have relatives in Finland or elsewhere in Europe.
“People are fleeing sanctions because they fear normal life in Russia will become impossible,” he said. “They want to get out and meet their relatives now, before the borders can be completely closed.”
More and more Russians may be interested in leaving, but not everyone can afford to travel or they do not have a valid visa, according to Helsingin Sanomat. “Everyone leaving for Europe has traveled recently. It is currently difficult to obtain a new travel visa, ”Gulik said.
Canada on Saturday advised its citizens to leave Russia, warning that security conditions are unpredictable and vulnerable to rapid deterioration. Britain and the United States also gave similar advice to their citizens in Russia.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page