Getting There By Rail
Valtion Rautatiet – VR (tel: (09) 231 99 902 or 0600 41902 from within Finland; website: www.vr.fi/heo/eng) is the main passenger rail service provider. Trains in Finland tend to be clean and efficient. Services depart from Rautatientori (Railway Square), located on Kaivokatu, off Mannerheimintie. ATMs, exchange facilities, newsagents, a car hire office and hotel booking centre are all available at the station.
Rail services: Three main lines arrive from Turku in the west, Tampere in the north and Lahti in the northeast, through which trains from St Petersburg and Moscow pass. There are three daily direct train services to and from Russia. The Finnish morning train, Sibelius, to St Petersburg (journey time – approximately 6.5 hours) departs Helsinki at 0742 (leaving St Petersburg for the return journey at 1632). The Russian afternoon train, Repin, to St Petersburg (journey time – approximately 6.5 hours) leaves at 1642 (return departure 0732), while Tolstoi, the Russian-operated night train to Moscow departs early evening (journey time - approximately 15 hours, return departure 2250). It is possible for travellers to continue on to Berlin on the Repin.
Transport to the city: The railway station is centrally located and is linked to the Helsinki metro system by a pedestrian tunnel.
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