A high-speed train service which would take just 3 hours to travel from St. Petersburg to Helsinki may start as early as 2008. The journey takes 5 1/2 hours now, but using trains running on a high-speed rail track, due to be completed in four years' time, travelers will be able to cut as much as 2 1/2 hours off the journey.

Speaking after a four-day visit to Finland, Matviyenko said the project had been under discussion since 2001 and "it is time to speed it up." Matviyenko said that after a ferry link resumes between St. Petersburg and Helsinki in April, the city can expect an additional 400,000 visitors a year.

Welcoming ferries and building a high-speed track between St. Petersburg and Helsinki are part of one major goal - to draw more tourists to St. Petersburg.

News source: www.sptimes.ru
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