"Finland got its first railway line back in 1860 but the original station was soon too small to handle the increasing number of passengers. Today Helsinki Central Station is the country’s most frequented building, servicing 200,000 passengers a day. Eliel Saarinen won a competition to design the new station in 1904, with plans for a muscular structure that epitomised the urgency and futurism of modern transport. Unfortunately the eruption of the Finnish Civil War delayed the opening until 1919, by which time the architect had also drastically altered his design. The most striking aspects of the station include the clock tower and four huge granite statues that flank the entrance. One rarely seen feature of the building is a private waiting lounge reserved for the use of the president of Finland."