JR West, a train company in Japan, teamed up with Serendix, a company specializing in 3D-printed construction, to build the world’s first 3D-printed train station at Hatsushima Station in Arida City, Wakayama Prefecture.
They finished it in March 2025, swapping out an old wooden station from 1948. It’s a small, one-floor building—just about 10 square meters, 2.6 meters tall, 6.3 meters wide, and 2.1 meters deep—but what’s special is how they built it so fast with new tech. The station’s four main pieces—walls, roof, and base—were 3D printed at a factory in Kumamoto Prefecture by Serendix.
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After printing and reinforcement, the pieces were transported 500 miles to Arida City. They put it all together in one night on March 25, 2025, in just 2-3 hours—way quicker than the six hours they thought it’d take. It tackles Japan’s rural rail challenges—depopulation, declining ridership, and costly maintenance—while showing the world how digital fabrication can modernize aging systems.
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