In a world-first achievement, a railway station in Japan was constructed using 3D-printed parts in less than six hours. The construction company, Serendix, built the new Hatsushima station overnight, between the last train of the day and the first one the next morning, to replace an old wooden structure, according to a New York Times report. Located in a quiet coastal town that’s part of Arida city in Wakayama Prefecture, the station serves around 530 daily passengers on a single train line, with service running one to three times an hour.

The new station building is just over 100 square feet in size and is much smaller than the original wooden version. According to West Japan Railway Company (JR West), traditional construction would have taken over two months and cost double as much. To accelerate the project, JR West brought in Serendix, with the station parts being 3D-printed at a factory in Kumamoto prefecture, roughly 500 miles southwest of Hatsushima. It took seven days to complete the printing and concrete reinforcement. The finished parts were transported by road and reached the station site on the morning of March 24.

"Normally, construction takes place over several months while the trains are not running every night," co-founder of Serendix, Kunihiro Handa, stated.

Once the final train departed at 11:57 p.m., workers got to work assembling the 3D-printed components. Using a crane, they carefully lifted each block and positioned it near the old station. The new structure was completed just in time for the first train's arrival at 5:45 a.m.

“We believe that the significance of this project lies in the fact that the total number of people required will be reduced greatly,” stated the president of JR West Innovations, Ryo Kawamoto.

Although the structure of the new building is complete, it still requires interior finishing and installation of equipment like ticket machines and transportation card readers. JR West said the station will open to the public in July. Hatsushima station was selected for this project because of its coastal location, which allows the company to test how well the building holds up against salty sea air. This new technology is also considered a potential answer to the labour shortages in Japan in railway construction.