Between the departure of the last train at night and the arrival of the first train in the morning, workers in a rural area of Japan constructed an entirely new train station. The new station is set to replace a significantly larger wooden structure that has been serving the community for over 75 years.

The components of the new station were 3D-printed elsewhere and then assembled on site last month, making it a world first according to the railway’s operators. Although it may not look like a traditional station, building it the traditional way would have taken more than two months and cost twice as much, said the West Japan Railway Company.

Japan’s aging population and shrinking workforce have made it increasingly challenging for railway operators to maintain their infrastructure, including outdated station buildings.

The new station, called Hatsushima, is located in a quiet seaside town that is part of Arida, a city with a population of 25,000 in the Wakayama Prefecture. The station serves approximately 530 riders daily and is located on a single line with trains running from one to three times an hour.

Yui Nishino, a 19-year-old student who uses the station every day for her commute to university, expressed her surprise when she first learned that the world’s first 3D-printed station building was being constructed there.

The construction firm Serendix, hired by West Japan Railway for the project, said that it took seven days to print the parts and reinforce them with concrete. The printing was done at a factory in Kumamoto Prefecture on the southwestern island of Kyushu, which was then transported about 500 miles northeast to Hatsushima Station.

Kunihiro Handa, a co-founder of Serendix, said that typically, construction would take place over several months, disrupting train schedules overnight.

As the trucks carrying the 3D-printed parts arrived on a Tuesday night in late March, several dozen residents gathered to witness the beginning of the groundbreaking project.

In less than six hours, the preprinted parts, made of a special mortar, were assembled. A large crane was used to lift each part down to where workers were piecing them together, just a few feet from the old station.

The new station, measuring just over 100 square feet, was completed before the first train arrived at 5:45 a.m. It is a minimalistic, white building featuring designs that include a mandarin orange and a scabbardfish, which are specialties of Arida. However, interior work and equipment installation were still needed, and West Japan Railway expects to open the new building for use in July.

Railway officials hope that the station will demonstrate how service can be maintained in remote locations with new technology and fewer workers. Ryo Kawamoto, president of JR West Innovations, a venture capital unit of the rail operator, believes that the project’s significance lies in its ability to significantly reduce the total number of people required.

The wooden building that the new station will replace was completed in 1948 and has been automated since 2018, like many smaller stations in Japan.

Toshifumi Norimatsu, a 56-year-old post office manager, expressed bittersweet feelings about the new

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/world/asia/japan-3d-station.html