Removal of dangerous Siilinjärvi rail crossings to begin in September

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency will start construction in September or October to remove the Tikkala and Aappola level crossings in Siilinjärvi, replacing them with new road connections at a cost of approximately €400,000, Yle reports.

Project manager Aki Hämäläinen said soil surveys have been completed and the new routes should be finished within a year, after which the crossings will be closed. Compensation for land use is not included in the budget, he noted.

The decision to remove the unmanned crossings was made in 2019, but work was delayed until a replacement road could be built. Progress accelerated after a fatal collision in August 2025, when a van and a train crashed at the Tikkala crossing, killing two people.

A court ruling in March cleared the final obstacle by approving a request from property owners to relocate the replacement road farther from their land. The decision was not appealed and is now legally binding.