Juho Hörtsänä of Onnistaipale and Kalle Säynäjoki and Juha Kauppi of Yliskylä demanded that the railway be routed from Siitama directly to Hirsilä, on the western side of the parish village, and refused to donate 40 sleepers per mantal to the construction site, as had been agreed between the residents to financially support the construction work.

In their view, a significant amount of arable farmland would be ruined by the planned line; on the other hand, the alignment proposed by them would have passed through their forests, additionally expediting the transportation of timber.

The position of the majority eventually prevailed and it was decided to build the line as originally proposed by the municipal assembly.

[1][2] Demands to build a siding from the Orivesi station to the village's harbour on the Längelmävesi sprung up in the 1880s, though it was not built immediately.

In 1888, Antti Mattila, a land merchant and peasant representative from Längelmäki, submitted a petition to the Diet of Finland for the construction of a railway connection.

Orivesi became a junction station on 1 December 1946 as the first section of the current Orivesi-Jyväskylä line to Torkkeli was opened for traffic.