Karelian Trains

Oy Karelian Trains Ltd was a joint venture agreed on 23 November 2006 between Russian Railways (RZhD) and VR Group (Finnish Railways) to facilitate the operation of international express passenger rail services between Helsinki, Finland, and Saint Petersburg, Russia.

[3] Traditionally the passport and customs checks have delayed the trains by at least 30 minutes according to the time table (1 hour for 30 km Vyborg-the border).

[6] All rail connections with Russia ceased in March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[7] The four trains are now redundant and Finland would like to donate them to Ukraine however they are jointly owned with Russian Railways - RZhD.

[8] In December 2023, it was announced that VR Group had assumed the financial obligations of the Karelian Trains company since it could no longer meet them itself.