The West Japan Railway Company — a major railway operator in Japan — late last month unveiled a 3D-printed train station, which it claimed was a world first. Located in the city of Arida, the new station’s components were 3D-printed elsewhere and assembled on-site in less than six hours.
The new station, Hatsushima, replaced a weathered wooden complex which was completed in 1948. Since 2018, it has been automated, like many smaller stations in Japan. The station, served by a single line with trains that run one to three times an hour, serves around 530 riders a day.
How was the new station built?
The West Japan Railway Company hired Serendix, a construction firm, to build the components of the new station. According to Serendix, printing the parts and reinforcing them with concrete took seven days.
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The printing was done at a factory in Kumamoto prefecture on the southwestern island of Kyushu. The parts left the factory on the morning of March 24 to be transported about 804 km northeast by road to Hatsushima Station.
“Normally, construction takes place over several months while the trains are not running every night,” said Kunihiro Handa, a co-founder of Serendix. Construction work near commercial lines is subject to strict restrictions and is usually carried out overnight so as not to disrupt timetables.
As trucks carrying the 3D-printed parts started pulling in on a Tuesday night in late March, several dozen residents gathered to watch the first-of-its-kind initiative get underway, in a place deeply familiar to them.
Then, after the last train pulled away at 11:57 pm, workers got busy building the new station.
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In less than six hours, the preprinted parts, made of a special mortar, were assembled. They were delivered on separate trucks, and a large crane was used to lift each one down to where workers were piecing them together, just a few feet from the old station.
The new station, which measures just over 100 square feet, was completed before the first train arrived at 5:45 am.
It still needed interior work, as well as equipment like ticket machines and transportation card readers. The West Japan Railway Company said it expected to open the new building for use in July.
Notably, constructing a new train station using the traditional method would have taken more than two months and cost twice as much, according to the company.
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Why is this significant?
Japan’s population is ageing and its workforce is shrinking. As a result, the maintenance of railway infrastructure, including outdated station buildings, has become a major issue for railway operators.
Railway officials say that they hope the new 3D-printed station will help tackle the problem by showing how service can be maintained in remote locations with new technology and fewer workers.
“We believe that the significance of this project lies in the fact that the total number of people required will be reduced greatly,” said Ryo Kawamoto, president of JR West Innovations, a venture capital unit of the West Japan Railway Company.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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