History of the Helsinki to Moscow train route

In March 1856, Tsar Alexander II decided to develop the railway system between Russia and the Grand Duchy of Finland, as the freezing winters and months of slushy thaws made road and waterway transport very difficult. Finland’s very first railway was founded in 1857, connecting Helsinki and the important Finnish city of Hämeenlinna, and a route between St Petersburg, Vyborg and Helsinki was later surveyed.

A disastrous crop failure in the 1860s caused a famine among the Finnish population and loss of income for the local government, so any hopes for railway construction were dashed. However, in 1867 Alexander II ordered for the railway construction to continue. In theory, this would create work for the hungry Finnish population, and Russia would help finance construction to take the burden off the local authorities. But in reality, mass migration in search of seasonal work led to disease epidemics, starvation, and hostility to destitute migrants. The mortality rate was so high in some places that the St Petersburg-Helsinki railway was dubbed “the road on bones”.

The railway finally opened on 11^th September 1870, the name day of Tsar Alexander II. Finlyandsky Railway Station in St Petersburg was opened earlier that year, and included a special pavilion for the imperial family to use before travelling to Finland in their bespoke imperial train.

The completion of the Helsinki to St Petersburg railway allowed Russians and Finns to easily visit each other’s capitals for the first time, and made a great economic contribution – in particular, the export of butter, timber and game to St Petersburg, where it was commonly sold at Sennaya Square market.

After the October Revolution Finland finally declared its sovereignty from Russia, but the troubles didn’t end there. Towns along the Helsinki to St. Petersburg railway became warzones during the post-revolutionary Civil War, and although the Bolsheviks initially captured the railway and Helsinki itself, they were finally pushed out by May 1918 and Finland remained independent.

The Helsinki to Moscow train service was finally founded in 1954. With passenger traffic between Moscow, Leningrad and Helsinki in full swing by the 1960s, Finnish tourists began flocking to the USSR by train as hotels, food and alcohol were much cheaper across the border.

The first branded Finland to Russia trains were launched in the 1970s, and in 1982 it was decided to name these two trains after outstanding Russian cultural figures – Lev Tolstoy and Ilya Repin. A third train was launched in 1992 and named after Finnish composer Jan Sibelius.

To this day, the Lev Tolstoy train serves the overnight Moscow and Helsinki train route, although the Ilya Repin and Jan Sibelius trains were replaced in 2010 with the high-speed Allegro train. Being able to travel with such ease between the two countries, in pre-covid times the vast majority of tourists in Finland were Russians, and Finns visited St Petersburg almost as much as they did Stockholm or Tallinn.

What to see on the Helsinki to Moscow railway route

Other than the obvious destinations of Moscow, St Petersburg and Helsinki, we would highly recommend a visit to Vyborg. Situated close to the Russian-Finnish border, Vyborg changed hands numerous times during its 800-year history and became part of Russia in 1944. The town’s tumultuous history is reflected in its unique atmosphere and cityscape, a mix of medieval Swedish architecture, elegant Northern Art Nouveau and grey Soviet blocks. Among Vyborg’s attractions are the 13^th-century Vyborg Castle; the dilapidated cobbled streets and cosy cafés of the Old Town; and the 18^th century Mon Repos Park, one of Eastern Europe’s largest English landscape gardens, characterised by its granite cliffs, bleakly beautiful Vyborg Bay waterfront, and romantic pavilions.