Allegro High-Speed Train (Pendolino) arriving in Helsinki Train Station :: Finland

Allegro High-Speed Train (Pendolino) arriving in Helsinki Train Station :: Finland

Allegro is a high-speed train service between Helsinki, Finland, and St. Petersburg, Russia. The service started on 12 December 2010. The aim is to reduce travel time between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg: before Allegro, the journey time was 5½ hours; currently it is 3 hours and 27 minutes and there are plans to bring it down to 3 hours. The name Allegro is a musical term for a quick tempo, thereby suggesting "high speed".
The top speed of the train in passenger traffic is 220 km/h (140 mph) and the train can run at a speed of at least 200 km/h (120 mph) between Tikkurila and Luumäki and Vyborg and St. Petersburg after extensive rail works.
he Allegro service is operated using Class Sm6 trainsets built by Alstom. Sm6 stands for electric multiple unit (Finnish: sähkömoottorijuna, literally 'electric motor train') model 6.
The Sm6 appears similar to VR's earlier Sm3 Pendolino series, but is based on the fourth generation 'Pendolino Nuovo' or 'New Pendolino' designs and its construction differs from the Sm3 in many ways.
The Sm6 is equipped to operate on both the Finnish and the Russian railway networks. The units have dual-voltage electrical equipment able to use both the Finnish 25 kV 50 Hz alternating current and the Russian 3 kV direct current electrification. The wheelsets are built to run at over 200 km/h (120 mph) speeds on both the Finnish 1,524 mm (5 ft) and the nominally slightly narrower Russian 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) gauge, and the doors are equipped with a retractable step to make boarding from both Finnish 550 mm (21.7 in) high and Russian 1,100 mm (43.3 in) high platforms easy. The units are equipped for both the Finnish and Russian railway technical systems, which differ substantially.

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