How Fast Can We Build a Train Station? In Today’s World, All We Need Is Six Hours!

A 3d-printed train station was built between the night’s last train and the morning’s first train in a rural community in Arida, Japan, demonstrating how service can be maintained in remote locations with new technology, fewer workers, and at a fraction of the cost.

“Normally, construction takes place over several months while the trains are not running every night,” explains Kunihiro Handa, a co-founder of Serendix, the construction firm that worked with West Japan Railway on the project.

The last train pulled away at 11:57 p.m. The preprinted parts, made of a special mortar, were delivered in separate trucks and lifted individually by a crane. They were assembled on site before the first train arrived at 5:45 a.m. The 9.3 m² minimalist, white building, featuring designs like a mandarin orange and a scabbardfish – specialities of the Arida – replaced the original wooden train station built in 1948. Hatsushima Station connects 25,000 citizens and is served by a single line, with trains running one to three times an hour, carrying around 530 riders a day. According to the West Japan Railway Company, the traditional way to build a station would have taken more than two months and cost twice as much. The new station is set to open in July, once equipment such as ticket machines and transportation card readers is installed.