Russia will launch the high-speed Allegro trains built by Alstom on the Helsinki - St Petersburg line by the end of 2010. These trains will travel this distance at a speed of 220 km/h in 3.5 hours, and later on it will be 3 hours instead of the current 5.5 hours.

The non-smoking Allegro train consists of seven carriages, each seating 350.

"This project is a positive example of the fruitful cooperation between the Russian and Finnish railways," Matti Vanhanen said. As he explained, all border-crossing and customs procedures will be completed en route. The Finnish prime minister also told Putin about the technical specifications of the train.

"All these details, which may seem too technical at first sight, have been thoroughly considered, including those regarding border-crossing and customs procedures," Putin said. "We are following out our plans and moving along on schedule," he emphasised.