The World’s First 3D Printed Train Station Is Being Made in Japan

Anyone who regularly travels by train will be familiar with the gulf between the high-tech solutions in the city and outdated commuter trains in the countryside. While train stations in the cities can be veritable technological strongholds and hubs for the latest generation of high-speed trains, in rural areas you can find yourself waiting in run-down shacks for leisurely trains from the last century. This is not only the case in areas like the United States where train infrastructure is outdated, but also in Japan, usually shown as a paragon of fast and convenient rail transportation. Away from Tokyo, the center of modernity, rural train stations are often still made of wood and are particularly prone to decay. In order to renovate these outdated stations, West Japan Railway Co (JR West), one of the major companies running the nation’s famous bullet trains, is now turning to 3D printing and has announced plans for the first 3D printed train station.

This first 3D-printed station is intended to replace the existing wooden structure of Hatsushimo station on the Kisei-Arita line in Wakayama Prefecture. The new single-storey building will measure 2.6 x 6.3 x 2.1 m and cover around 10 square meters. It will be printed from reinforced concrete by Serendix, a company specializing in the 3D printing of affordable houses. The Osaka-based company combines Japanese expertise in the construction of earthquake-proof buildings with modern construction technology and produces new buildings using robotic extrusion.

Serendix prints new buildings using concrete extrusion (photo credits: TMA / Serendix)

The individual parts of the 3D-printed station building will first be manufactured and then assembled into a complete building on site using a crane. This will take place at record speed, as according to JR West, the construction will only take six hours and will take place on the night of March 25 – between the last evening train and the first in the morning.