
Finland’s VR will stop rail freight traffic to Russia by the end of the year
VR Group, the Finnish state-owned railway company, said it will stop the transportation of goods to Russia by the end of 2022. In April, VR Group claimed that rail freight traffic between the two countries would be gradually phased out after existing transport contracts would end.
This is not the first time the VR announces such measures. In March, in fact, the company halted rail freight traffic to Russia. However, rail freight traffic between Helsinki and St.Petersburg resumed after only three days, on 30 March. Moreover, Russian News Agency (TASS) stated that VR had already decreased freight traffic to Russia by 65 per cent between the start of the war and September.
During the same period, VR suspended its Allegro passenger train service, which used to connect Helsinki with St. Petersburg, and officially canceled it in August. At the beginning of the war, the EU asked Finland to keep the train running for Russian citizens fleeing the country.
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