The Parkano railway station is located in the town of Parkano

Parkano

Parkano is a town and municipality in Finland.It is located north of Tampere in the province of Western Finland, and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The population of Parkano is and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. The station was opened for passenger and cargo traffic in 1971, and is located about six kilometres from the Parkano main urban area. The distance from the Helsinki Central railway station

Helsinki Central railway station

Helsinki Central railway station is a widely recognised landmark in central Helsinki, Finland, and the focal point of public transport in the Greater Helsinki area. The station is used by approximately 200,000 passengers per day, making it Finland's most-visited building...

 is 262 kilometres.

Up to 1970, the station named Parkano was located in the Parkano main urban area on the track between Haapamäki

Haapamäki

Haapamäki is a village in the municipality of Keuruu, Finland. It is historically an important meeting point of major railway lines, which converge at Haapamäki railway station....

 and Pori

Pori

Pori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, which is the largest in Finland. Pori is the most important town in the Satakunta region....

. The old Parkano station was renamed Kairokoski railway station when the new station was opened.

The Parkano railway station was built in connection with the more direct track from Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

 to Seinäjoki

Seinäjoki

Seinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960...

 to a place where the direct track crossed the track between Haapamäki and Pori. Originally, the station was not intended to serve passenger traffic. Only after public opposition, the VR Group

VR Group

VR or VR Group is a state-owned railway company in Finland. Formerly known as Suomen Valtion Rautatiet until 1922 and Valtionrautatiet / Statsjärnvägarna until 1995...

decided to build a temporary barracks-style station building to serve passenger traffic. This station building is still in service.

Almost all passenger trains between Tampere and Seinäjoki stop at Parkano. The station also has cargo traffic, mostly carrying raw wood.