The Intercity trip to Helsinki was comfortable and cozy
My trip was from Pori to the capital Helsinki, with an exchange to Tampere.
I had been on a reporting trip and had to return to Helsinki for a home flight.
It is about 151 miles by car from Pori to Helsinki.
By car it is about three hours or half an hour more by train.
I got the tickets online. It cost about $ 60 to book at short notice.
I left Pori at 10 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Helsinki at 1:35 p.m.
The base price of the ticket was € 45 (about $ 47 – the euro is $ 1.05).
I also got updated seats for the first leg for 6.90 euros and the second for 5.90 euros.
This gave me a total price of € 57.80 or $ 61.
The train was double-decker. Like every passenger train in Finland, it is operated by the state.
The train was driven State – owned Finnish train company VR.
My surcharge for the first installment meant I could drive to the top floor to get better views
The top was a little above the staircase.
This is what the cabin looked like.
There was a working toilet at the end of the car
At the bottom, the seats were similar. There was also a place on the train where you can park your bike if you book in advance.
You can book small private booths between the main carriages.
These are double booths that were empty when I got on the train.
And I had time to talk to a Finn!
A friendly Finn sat next to me in the middle of Tampere.
I had read that starting a conversation could be considered rude, but he started the conversation, so I joined. We talked for about 20 minutes about Finland, Tampere, traffic laws, the differences between French, British and Finnish cultures and more.
I learned that the fact that a Finn has not spoken for a few minutes does not mean that the debate is over.
Finns seem to be used to thinking a lot before continuing.