The Finnish president's train, which opened high-speed rail service between St Petersburg and Helsinki, arrived from the Finnish capital at Vyborg station on schedule. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met Tarja Halonen on the platform and presented her with flowers. He said that Russia has eagerly awaited the completion of the Allegro project and that he is glad that "everything has turned out as planned."

Ms Halonen, in turn, thanked Mr Putin for his cooperation on the project and noted that people in Finland are pleased to have a high-speed rail link between St Petersburg and Helsinki.

Then Mr Putin and Ms Halonen entered the renovated train station in Vyborg. Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin acknowledged the railroad workers who prepared for this event and restored the station. He also noted that despite the overall decline in rail traffic, the level of passenger traffic between Finland and Russia has remained consistently high.

After they had a look around the station, Mr Putin and Ms Halonen boarded the train and departed for St Petersburg.

The Allegro project was initiated following talks between Vladimir Putin and Tarja Halonen in May 2002. The new train will almost halve the travel time between St Petersburg and Helsinki – from the current six hours and 18 minutes to just over three and a half hours. The time savings will be achieved through the use of more advanced trains, as well as increased train speeds and expedited border procedures.

Allegro trains will travel 200 km per hour on Russian territory and 220 km per hour on Finnish territory.

The trains seat 344 passengers each, including 296 in second class and 48 in first class.