fortification employees leaving on the coastal track to Leppävaara and on the main track to Malmi. The Finnish Civil War broke out after the Russian Revolution and Finnish independence, with the Reds conquering the station in January 1918. The railway administration had to move to Vaasa, which was the capital of White Finland at the time. In April the Reds retreated from Helsinki to Vyborg, and with the senate's approval German troops conquered Helsinki. This allowed the railway administration to return to the Helsinki railway station and the train traffic to gradually resume operation. Completion After the Civil War had ended, the situation in the country was seen as so serious that the railway engineer Orrman was ordered to oversee the completion of the Helsinki railway station. The old station building remained in use until the new station building was completed after spending 12 years under construction. The badly deteriorated old station building, the scaffolding that had been around the clock tower for five years and the fence around the construction site were all dismantled in December 1918. The new railway station was inaugurated on Wednesday 5 March 1919, still at an incomplete stage. The station, which was originally intended to serve as the western terminus station of the Empire of Russia, became the main railway station of independent Finland. A total of 15 years had passed since the design contest of the station, and the interior of the station building was still incomplete. The patriotic inauguration was opened by the city orchestra playing Finlandia conducted by Robert Kajanus. Guests at the inauguration included architect Eliel Saarinen and regent Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The main platform at the end of the railway tracks was only covered according to the original plans made by the railway administration in 1925. In 1938, the administrative building in the western wing was expanded with a wing parallel to the Teatterikuja street according to the plans made by the railway administration. World War II and bombing of Helsinki During the Continuation War the station was damaged in several bombings, as it was always among the main bombing targets for the enemy. The station was first damaged already in the first large night bombing in August 1942. The worst damage that the railway station suffered was at the end of the Continuation War in February 1944, when the Soviet Union engaged in the bombing of Helsinki.