Tienristi, thus becoming the centre of the area. The separate Pieksämäki village became a market town called Pieksämä in 1930, but the Finnish Railway Institute did not rename the station. Later, the city council changed its mind, and Pieksämä was renamed back to Pieksämäki in 1948. During World War II, the important crossing point station was the target of many bombings, and the station restaurant also burned down. Nevertheless, traffic increased both during and after the war. This was partly because of a track between Varkaus and Joensuu, built in 1940. Pieksämäki became a central place for the VR Group, receiving a repair shop and a depot. The trackyard is one of the largest in Finland, over 6 kilometres long, with almost 100 kilometres of track. The current central traffic station at Pieksämäki was completed in 1981. Pieksämäki is the terminus for many passenger trains, and all trains passing it also stop at the station. It is nowadays a control station, because traffic control in the nearby railway traffic points are handled remotely from Pieksämäki. Services There is also bus traffic from the station. In popular culture The Pieksämäki station is a prominent element of the Juice Leskinen song "Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla". The song is written from the perspective of a lone musician arriving to the station from Mikkeli, who then begins playing an improvised blues with accompaniment from an imaginary band to pass the time while waiting for his next train. References Literature External links Station information on VR's home page Railway station Railway stations opened in 1889 Railway stations in South Savo