How Japan built a 3D printed train station in six hours. Credit Line: Jiji Press / Jiji Press Photo / Profimedia
West Japan Railway railway company has built, in just six hours, a completely new station in an isolated community, using 3D printing technology. This will replace a much larger wooden structure, which has served the commuters for more than 75 years, reports The Star.
The 3D printed train station is located at the Hatsushima station, in the town on the Arida Sea, which has 25,000 inhabitants of the Wakayama Prefecture and which are adjacent to two popular tourist destinations, the prefectures of Osaka and Nara. The station, served by a single line with trains running one to three times per hour, serves about 530 travelers per day.
The components of the new station were printed 3D elsewhere and assembled on the spot at the end of March, in what the railway operators say it is a world premiere.
It may look more like a shelter than a train station, but the construction of one traditionally would have lasted more than two months and cost twice as much, said West Japan Railway.
Serendix, the construction company that West Japan Railway has hired for the project, said that printing parts and their concrete reinforcement lasted seven days.
Japan's 3D-Printed Train Station Revolution: Genius or Gimmick?
In Just 6 Hours, Japan's West Japan Railway Co. Built a 3D-Printed Train Station, Hatsushima, in rural Arida (Wakayama Prefecture), Replacing of 75-Year-Old Wooden relic. Pre-Printed Parts Were Assembled Overnight… pic.twitter.com/nmtyujgp9l
– Falah Mousa (@falahmousa) April 9, 2025
Innovative structure put on the feet in one night
The printing was made at a factory in the Kumamoto Prefecture in the southwest of Kyushu. The pieces left the factory on the morning of March 24 to be transported to about 804 km northeast to Hatsushima train station.
“Normally, the construction takes place over several months, while trains do not run every night,” said Kunihiro Handa, co-founder of Serendix.
The trucks carrying 3D printed parts started to arrive on the evening on March 25th. Then, after the last train left the train station at 23.57, the workers began to build the new station.
In less than six hours, the spared parts were assembled, made of a special mortar. They were delivered on separate trucks, and a large crane was used to lift each to the place where the workers put them together, just a few meters from the old station.
The new station, which measures just over 100 square meters, was completed before the first train arrived at 5.45. It is a minimalist building, white, with designs that include a tangerine and a Saic fish, arid specialties.
Indoor works are still needed, as well as equipment such as tickets and transport card readers.
When it can be used
West Japan Railway said they are expecting to open the new building for use in July.
Railway officials hope that the station will show how the service can be maintained in distant locations with the help of new technologies and a smaller number of workers.
“We believe that the significance of this project is that the total number of people will be greatly reduced,” said Ryo Kawamoto, president of JR West Innovations, a risk unit of the railway operator.
The wooden building that will replace the new station was completed in 1948. From 2018, it was automated, like many smaller stations in Japan.
