Trans Siberian Winter Journey - part 10: St. Petersburg - Helsinki on Tolstoy Premium Train № 032A

Tenth and final part of the Trans-Siberian Winter Journey from Vladivostok to Helsinki via Lake Baikal, Novosibirsk, Moscow, and St. Petersburg;
Premium Train: № 032A
Brand name: Lev Tolstoy
From: Moscow Leningradsky Railway Station, Russia
To: Helsinki Central Station (Helsinki asema), Finland
Travelling: from St. Petersburg-Ladozhsky Railway Station to Helsinki
Tracks: Riihimäki-Saint Petersburg railway, Kerava-Lahti railway (Lahden oikorata), Hämeenlinna to Helsinki line (Päärata)
Route via: Vyborg, Buslovskaya, Border Russia-Finland, Vainikkala, Kouvola, Lahti, Pasila
Travel Class: Kupe Wagon (Second Class sleeping compartment)
Car No: 08
Berth No: 15 (lower berth)
Car operator: October Railway
Train operator: Russian Railways RZD, Finnish Railways VR-Yhtymä Oy
Wagon Model: Wagon Model: WLABmz 61-4476 RIC
Manufacturer: Siemens and Transmashholding (Tver Carriage Works)
Price: RUB 4,050 (approx. EUR 54)
Travel time: 7 hours and 29 minutes
Distance: approx. 360 km
Travel season: December 2018
Train operator: Russian Railways RZD, Finnish Railways VR-Yhtymä Oy
First Electric Locomotive (Moscow - Vyborg): ЭП20-051
Built by: Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant (NEVZ)
Delivered to RZD: 2015
Depot: Moskva-Sortirovochnaya-Ryazanskaya
Locomotive operator: Moscow Railway
Second Electric Locomotive (Vainikkala - Helsinki): VR-Class Sr2 3206
Built by: Bombardier Transportation
Delivered to Finnish Railway VR: 1998
Locomotive operator: VR-Yhtymä Oy
фирменный поезд: № 032A «Лев Толстой»
Откуда: Москва Ленинградский вокзал, Россия
До: Хельсинки-Центральный, Финляндия
Путешествие: из Санкт-Петербург-Ладожский вокза́л до Хельсинки
Железнодорожные пути: Железная дорога Рийхимяки - Санкт-Петербург, линия Керава - Лахти, линия Хямеенлинна - Хельсинки
Маршрут через: Выборг, Бусловская, Граница Россия-Финляндия, Вайниккала, Коувола, Лахти, Пасила
Класс поездки: вагон Купе (Спальный вагон второго класса)
Номер вагон: № 08
Место для сидения: 15 (нижний причал)
Оператор вагона: Октя́брьская желе́зная доро́га (ОЖД)
Модель вагона: WLABmz 61-4476 RIC Перестановка вагонов
Производитель: Сименс и Трансмашхолдинг в Твери
Оператор поезда: РЖД, Железные дороги Финляндии VR
Цена: 4,050 руб. (Около 54 евро)
Время в пути: 7 часов 29 минут
Расстояние: ок. 360 км
Туристический сезон: декабрь 2018
электровоз (Москва - Выборг): ЭП20-051
Построен: Новочеркасский электровозостроительный завод (НЭВЗ)
Поставлено РЖД: 2015
Депо: ТЧЭ-6 Москва-Сортировочная-Рязанская
оператор электровоз: Моско́вская желе́зная доро́га
электровоз (Вайниккала - Хельсинки): VR-Class Sr2 3206
Построен: Бомбардье Транспорт
Поставлено VR: 1998
оператор электровоз: Железные дороги Финляндии VR
Part 1 (Fast Train № 007Н Vladivostok - Belogorsk): • Trans-Siberian Railway...
Part 2 (Fast Train № 007Н Belogorsk - Chita-2): • Trans-Siberian Railway...
Part 3 (Fast Train: № 099Э Chita-2 - Ulan-Ude): • Trans-Siberian Railway...
Part 4 (Premium Train № 001M Ulan-Ude - Irkutsk): • Trans-Siberian Railway...
Part 5 (International Fast Train № 005Щ Irkutsk - Novosibirsk):
• Trans Siberian Railway...
Part 6 (International Fast Train № 063Б Novosibirsk - Tyumen):
• Trans-Siberian Railway...
Part 7 (Premium Train № 013Н Tyumen - Ekaterinburg): • Trans-Siberian Railway...
Part 8 (Premium Train № 059Е Ekaterinburg - Moscow):
• Trans-Siberian Railway...
Part 9 (Grand Express Premium Train № 054Ч Moscow - St. Petersburg):
• Trans-Siberian Railway...
Parrt 10 (Premium Train "Lev Tolstoy" № 032A St. Petersburg - Helsinki): this video

[@salikrambareth9821]

I see your all train journey to all 10 parts thanks 😍😍😍😍

[@keday8138]

Yep Bro ........... What a Journey ! Done with Finnish Precision & Russian Charm a VERY BIG Kiitos paljon and seuraavaan kertaan

[@jorca2367]

What a ride. From time to time you rest in hotels along the voyage. It was better so intead of traveling seven days long in the train.

[@ltlarrow1]

Great video! I liked all the information you provided along the way.

[@aprilhilliard3302]

New subscribers here, watching in western Colorado, USA. We watched this whole series. Very impressive! Your videography, editing, captioning, etc are all top tier. We will be watching all of your vids for sure. Thanks for taking us along! Many blessings for a safe, healthy, and happy 2025!

[@sassyfrass4295]

USA here. What a wonderful trip! Just found your channel and watched the entire series. Russia is beautiful, fascinating and vast. Much love and respects from one railway fan to another. Would love to take this trip just as you laid it out...someday. Thank you, Doc!

[@dimmiheev2542]

if you are going to Russia, it is better not to use the services of American tour operators. American companies take a lot of money from their citizens, you will greatly overpay. an American company bought an old ship in Russia, a rusty trough, and charges American citizens $ 7,000 for a trip on this ship. in Russia, you can buy a ticket for a higher-class ship for $ 500 - $ 2000.

[@Parlophonic]

Thank you so much for taking us with you across the world by train. It is a journey I have wanted to do for decades, but now I feel I am partially satisfied from watching your amazing series which has been so professionally done. No nasty pop music and no commentary save for that which you trped in for us. Wonderful. Thank you.

[@salikrambareth9821]

Mindblowing journey man 👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@jean-francoisleduc3319]

I enjoyed watching the 10 videos. They really capture the mood aboard the trains. I appreciated the lack of oral comments: I found the captions informative enough. A very enjoyable viewing. Thank you.

[@marimarcta]

Thank you for this amazing journey 🙏

[@Bandara007]

Absolutely fantastic video series ❤🚅👏

[@jgodfrey546]

Thoroughly enjoyed this series! 2 more travel ideas have been inspired....

[@stevenwoolley2727]

I have really enjoyed this series and always eagerly awaiting each episode....Sad that this is the last one, but what a journey from Vladivostok :) :) :)

[@anneminkhorst1502]

Just loved this . I always planned to do this but never happened but this was a great experience especially in the winter

[@juliepicardy6033]

Thank you. Fantastic series. Enjoyed it.

[@balap9801]

It has been a fantastic 10 episodes watched in the last one week. Travelling in the TSRWY has been one of my childhood dreams after reading about them in the erstwhile USSR publications in late 60 and 70s in my school / college days. Though I could not really able to travel in it so far, your fabulous videos has given me the feeling of having travelled in the TRSBRway . Hope I will be able to travel soon at least in some sections . Thanks again for your wonderful effort in making it so real. God bless!!

[@galala.7618]

Great job.Thanks for sharing , enjoyed your travels on my comfy chair ;-)

[@ittipolpan-ngum4477]

The most well-informed documentary, carefully made. Most enjoyable train journey series.

[@natraj_j]

This is s great journey wonderfully captured & recorded. Kudos to the creator 👏

[@ninicirstea]

Hello my dear friend ! I just wanna thank you for this amazing journey “ I did “ with your videos. Absolutlely beautifull and instructive. Wish you all the best Respectfully Nick

[@perhapsme988]

An epic series with details rarely explained by others. The efforts are grand. Hopefully one day i get to experience the trip in person. Thanks

[@doc7austin]

it is a long time ago - i made that trip in 2018

[@kavitachitnis8251]

Excellent , i watched the entire journey during lockdown & now again after the lockdown, will watch it again, i feel it so realistic, even if its an e-journey.Thanx a lot for uploading & God bless :from Mumbai, India.

[@Dave-st8le]

A very good series of videos indeed. Doc7austin is very well informed about Finnish railways, including Finnish place names and names of tracks. I also liked the video of the Nightjet Wien - Paris.

[@monstrok]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[@sravindranath6596]

Superb series. Gave the feeliong of travelling with you across the railway from Vladivostok to Helsingki. A different kind of travel video with elaborate details. Salute.

[@westerneurope1752]

What a journey. Fantastic.

[@rajindersharma9345]

The entire series was lovely, enjoyable and exhilarating. Have eagerly waited for release of next episode, and at times have felt bad that the next episode would be coming after a month. But all in all it was wonderful. But I wouldn't hesitate to add that the initial episodes of the train passing through some spectacular snow clad plains and meadows were more enjoyable than the later episodes which lacked that charm. But yes, thanks Doc for bringing us an experience of a life time. Keep safe and keep entertaining others with your lovely videos. Thanks again.

[@Mork2001]

By far the best vlog of transcontinental train journey : informative without being intrusive, witty at times (Sarah Palin reference), great videography to make you want to visit Siberia or at least travel through there (Lake Baikal). Russian Tourism should thank you. 🙏🏼 from India.

[@PrestonLPR]

Thank you for the series, it was most enjoyable and brought back many memories. There are a number of reasons why the Lev Tolstoy is relatively empty. The Allegro from St Petersburg to Helsinki is so convenient that few people would consider taking the Tolstoy, which leaves the Tolstoy only catering for those travelling from Moscow. The number of people crossing from Russia is dependent on the state of the Russian economy and the ruble-euro exchange rate, and this has not been favourable for Russians in recent years. Sanctions and counter-sanctions have added an extra complication. As an indication of the volume of cross-border flows, the closing of the Russia-Finland border because of the coronavirus pandemic is costing the Finnish border area of South Karelia approx. EUR 1 million per day, which is a lot for a place with so few people. (Most border crossings are by road not rail.) As regards the food in Finnish restaurant cars, there is a satirical song by Ismo Leikola poking fun at the Pendolino trains used on many Finnish routes that points out that in the Finnish restaurant cars everything is cooked in the microwave except the beer. If you want to eat in a Finnish restaurant car I recommend the meatballs. Thanks once again and happy travels.

[@jimholder6656]

A truly wonderful & memorable trip -- many thanks!

[@claudiahansen4938]

Magnificent and satisfying piece of work. You have taken all of us on a journey we didn't realize we wanted to take!

[@kathieli4844]

Super 👍 👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Супер и спасибо!

[@ashleyjojom8507]

Great videos, I enjoyed a lot, thank you🎀🌸🎀

[@adamsmith275]

...A Masterwork!... Thank you very much!... I watched all ten parts!... I will watch the other videos you have!...

[@user-ys4og2vv8k]

I really like your travel vlogs, very well filmed and equipped with unobtrusive but accurate information. Keep on!

[@CinqueZ3]

All 10 videos are an excellent work. Thank you so much!

[@rodicaherescu9249]

Hello! Wonderful! I have enjoyed every train you took, thanks so much! My soul is so happy!!! Thanks!

[@HenryMulder53]

I wanna thank you enormously for sharing this magnificent rail journey with us. What a journey! I've enjoyed it very much from episode 1 till 10 and your comments with subtitles were awesome. I've seen a lot of Russia through the windows of all the cars you've traveled in.

[@lancewong8434]

Epic journey! Love your videos so much! This is the most fascinating train travel series on KZbin! Can’t wait to see the final part of the Karlsruhe-Almaty series:)

[@arunkerr13]

I have watched all ten episodes in a day. What a monumental effort you have put in creating this wonderful series. I really hope I would travel the entire section of Trans Siberian, from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok, some day.

[@easylens1665]

Thank you Doc. I enjoyed the series tracking the route on Google Maps. You have captured very well the beauty of the landscapes and the vastness of the Steppe. Interesting details of the amenities and food. Very useful for me when I do this trip.......sometime in the future. Appreciate your effort to put together this montage of the greatest train journey on planet Earth !

[@bernkondret9981]

Good insight into what a trip by rail across Russia entails. I live in Texas. I have not traveled by train. The US has very poor passenger train service. I read a book, about 1960, about an escape, by a political prisoner from Siberia on the Trans Siberian railway. He strapped himself to the underside of a train car. This series gives a sense of the vastness of Russia. I can't imagine how much work it is to maintain the rail lines. Thanks.

[@joshuahoward3016]

I enjoy these wonderful train videos of Russia and other European countries you visit. However, I love the intro music to your videos. Greetings from New York City...

[@ianhamilton396]

What a great series. It has been a pleasure to be along for the ride. Congratulations.

[@vivekraychowdhury4348]

What a journey, half of the world by train!!

[@Tvrtko1995]

Thank you. I've seen the entire series. I enjoy it. This is the trip I will never make myself. It is quite educational and well recorded/edited.

[@ChrisBreytenbachcvb]

Lovely. I enjoyed every moment.

[@likeasong63]

Incredible journey. Well done. Thank you for bringing us along.

[@danachappell3861]

Thank you for such an enthralling journey across Russia. The country is vast, wild, and in places, wickedly cold. I really enjoyed it. Can't wait to find out what new adventure you will be taking us on... once this virus is gone.

[@aleksandrsk8547]

I was waiting for this last chapter for so long! :) Great series, really enjoyed it. I wish I can afford such travel one day.

[@andresquiroga5212]

Que hermoso!!! Solo felicitaciones y agradecimiento por tan espectacular viaje en tren desde Vladivostok hasta Helsinki (aunque hasta Moscú es Mágico) la verdad no quería que terminará esta serie y el final es casi agridulce,,, siento hasta melancolía con el fin de este viaje tan bello y por país majestuoso hermoso como es Rusia ❤️🇷🇺. Debo decir que la intro del primer video no entusiasmo pero luego del 3 minuto no puede abandonar la serie viendo tanta maravilla de un país tan lejano al mío y de ver a través de las vías como Vladivostok se hacía más lejano... Que gran trabajo 👏🏻👏🏻 Saludos desde Chile 🇨🇱

[@thomaselers7416]

Traveling by railway is so charming. I've done it a lot, years back, from Denmark to Austria and Italy. Never had the pleasure of Russian railways, hopefully some day.

[@miketerry501]

Fabulous, thank you.

[@davidroyisaac3369]

Amazing journey by train.

[@ivanbrovkin8769]

Everything goes excellent: picture, sound, tempo, comments. Thanks to author!

[@blUe_250]

Nice journey! Thak you for sharing this interesting experiences with us!

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

I really enjoy the shots from the rear of the train. I travelled on the Trans Mongolian last year, and I was chased by the provodnitsa on the last carriage every time I passed her cabin.

[@rijor1]

I absolutely enjoyed your series of videos. I hope that you have another project forthcoming in the near future. You did an amazing job putting this project together. I, also was sad to see the last episode. I do hope that there will be more projects ahead. Again, Great Job!!!

[@PatrickLechevallier]

Unfortunately this is the last episode....End of this beautifull journey....I watched it all from the begening.Top class!Thank you again!May be will there be another journey?The music,the explanations,the scenery every thing was just great.

[@dimmiheev2542]

maybe you can make the trip yourself. then you will not regret that this trip is the last, it is better to see everything with your own eyes than on a computer screen.

[@psychicchap]

Amazing journey indeed. I was waiting for you to update and here it comes finally. Apart from your stable videos what I really loved is the level of details you have mentioned in the form of captions. Thanks for sharing your great journey all the way from Vladivostok to Helsinki. great work indeed !

[@AndreiIvanescuOficial]

Lovely! Thanks for all efforts to show all beautiful Russian Railway! You make a great job! Best regards and wishes from Romania!

[@richardanderson6874]

An awesome adventure and an excellent journey. Thank-you for sharing it with us.

[@victorhodgson8767]

Thanks Doc, now I'm satisfied, great overall rail journey, one thing which will always remind me of it ,is that haunting introduction music.

[@luisbabicek1169]

What a treat! Thanks for sharing. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@mkrajiv]

Lovely! Thanks for the great journey! Interesting technical details - changing of the traction set is just amazing!

[@LeeBv9983]

Fantastic job.

[@ReBemolMayor]

¡Muchas gracias! Siga recorriendo el mundo y mostrándonos sus trenes como sólo Ud. lo hace! Felicitaciones.

[@hahulin7052]

Хорошо снято! Спасибо за видео!👍👍👍

[@lb42]

I've enjoyed on this train ride with you, but wish we could see more of Finland. 😊👍🇫🇮 Anyhow great journey 🚂🚉 Hope to see more from you after Covid(let's hope it'll be an 'after Covid' 😔 Many regards from Croatia🇭🇷

[@jkb1867]

Being a ex-Railway official I thoroughly enjoyed all 10 parts of your journey. Please accept high "Appreciation" on this tiresome and on putting lots of physical and mental efforts in filming these videos. Only very few can have this opportunity and you are one of that lucky person. Great job

[@thadkarwowski]

Thank you so much for your videos. Not being able to travel has been rough, and the train videos are great! So well done and have so much detail about the trip and the trains. Watching these has been keeping me sane!

[@nancycatania7763]

I have throughly enjoyed your journey! Thank you so much for sharing with us!

[@rdrogel]

Best series

[@bkayganich]

Great ending! Thoroughly enjoyed this series. Great work!

[@maryannmulattieri7055]

Got my Atlas out and enjoyed the trip. Particularly, through Siberia

[@ArmandoCastroAveiro]

Thank you. I love your ten videos.

[@augustineprint4511]

I'd been looking forward to this episode. Thank you for sharing this journey (the ride through Siberia was my favourite though).

[@satishsreekumar4887]

I watched all the parts fully. Very well taken. It would have been better if narration in English voice was there. Expecting more like this. Love from 🇮🇳

[@doc7austin]

hi, appreciate your feedback; a voice narration woukd destroy the audio of the train ride

[@nigelhuc]

Thanks very much - great videos. I very much enjoyed following your journey.

[@o.g.meijer9634]

Thanks, beautiful trip, very inspiring

[@Mitchosaure]

WHAT A TRIP!! You're a lucky man to get all this time to spend traveling! Your vids juste may be considered of public interest!!

[@vivekraychowdhury4348]

Was waiting for this one. Thank you 👍👍👍👍 for the journey.

[@artistworld9632]

Love ❤😘 your Videos doc.

[@VidiGoR1]

Excellent series👍🏻🙂

[@warrenrand3562]

very well done, doc! so glad you didnt make a seven day selfie out of this. your comments in english are very helpful and clear, even though i suspect that english is not your mother tounge. pozdravly-yoo!

[@williamwingo4740]

At 2:51 he's about to cross the famous Anichkov "Horse-Tamers" bridge, mentioned in Ayn Rand's "We the Living" (1936). I never crossed it myself, but did go under it on a boat tour in 2012.

[@helenel4126]

Thanks for sharing. This series was amazing. I don't know how you could top this adventure.

[@netrhyda8761]

What a great journey! How sad, that due to the current global Covid paranoia, train travel, much like air and sea is probably very much curtailed. So many affected people, so many jobs......I hope you will stay well and can get back to what you love just as soon as possible!! Cheers!

[@brijeshy10]

Fantastic, I m a big fan of u frm India

[@FiiSuper]

just note: Also has high speed train Helsinki - St. Petersburg 3.5 hours allegro but price is high oneway between 80..150.. euros

[@Lexa888888]

Nice video!

[@stefanschreuder7797]

Thank you, this is a good series if you want information about the Trans Siberian and/or Trans Mongolia Journey.

[@Евгений-с4с4л]

Спасибо за работу

[@Itapirkanmaa2]

You could still change trains at Helsinki and take the night train either to Kittilä or Kemijärvi for another 1,000 kms.

[@laju]

28:35 The reason of being so early is because some of the Tolstoy trains carry a car-carrier behind, and it would be detatched between Tikkurila and Pasila stations. This train didn't have that, so it arrived Pasila early.

[@heathertruskinger6214]

It's a very quiet train !

[@krisnaagungmurti5756]

Thanks doc! It's really interesting. It really help me to learn about russian city, social, and the climate in there

[@RovexHD]

I'm in Kiev and train travel in eastern Europe is far and away better than what we have in Western Europe

[@pietrovecchio8497]

colazione appetibile

[@OctaveCCrow]

Thank you!

[@ТатьянаГлебушкина-у3й]

Браво!!!