Allegro Pendolino of Karelian Trains    
The Karelian trains, as subsidiary of the RzD (the Russian Railways) and VR-Yhtyma of Finland, introduces a new service standard on the border traffic between the larger cities in Finland and Russia. The company has acquired 4 new improved 400 / S220 series Pendolinos called "Allegro" for 3 - 4 daily trips between Helsinki Finland and St Petersburg Russia. The travelling times have been pushed down from 6 hours to 3,5 and later to 3 hours by building new high speed track, use of Pendolino high speed trains and passport and Visa inspections enroute instead of stopping in the border.
     
* Allegro Story * Allegro Destinations * Allegro Pendolinos * Allegro Technical Details * Challenges and Potential for the Market * Pictures of the Allegro Units *
 
 

Picture above: this is the first picture ever published on the Allegro unit on it's test drive in kerava. The unit was run through a test program daily, 7 days a week, in the early 2010 to ensure the operations without any glitches. By years end 2010 all 4 units had been certified in Russia. 
Below: The roofline shows a multitude of communications devices needed for smooth operations in either Russia or Finland. Some of the Russian equipment date back to 1920's U.S.A. The large pole at the top is the other connection point to the radio receiver /sending device that was used by Pennsylvania, Great Nothern and several other U.S. railroading companies. Still reliable analog communications method, even if all the satellites would fall down!

        

 Allegro Pendolino Rolling Stock   
Each Allegro unit consists of 7 module Pendolino 400 series train, structure based mainly on the well working Finnish Sm3 class Pendolinos already in use by VR-Yhtyma in Finland. The new Finnish class Sm6 Pendolinos of Karelian Trains are further developed of the series 400 and S220 Pendolinos. One of the main design principles has been to use what has been found working well in the harsh climate, so the new trains use numerous components found on the earlier trains. Two main differences strike out: The roofline is more streamlines with more technology hidden behind the panels and the tilting system is now Alstoms own. The tilt is now pneumatic (air operated) instead of the older hydraulic (fluid operated) one. 

   
The services for the trains have been offered by the builder Alstom, which already has a subsidiary in Finland, but it is probable that VR-Yhtyma will provide these instead at it's depot in Helsinki. Another interesting alternative would be to provide the services in St Petersburg in the same depot where Siemens provides it's services for the Velaro-Rus / Sapsans. 

Picture: The Alstom Pendolino cab car hanging from the huge crane in the Vuosaari harbor in Helsinki Finland.