Arida, Japan – Within six hours between the last night train departure and the arrival of first in the morning, workers in a rural area of Japan built a new train station. The structure replaces a significantly larger wood building, which served passengers in this remote community for over 75 years.
The components of the new station were printed in 3D elsewhere and set up last month, in a project that rail operators claim to be the first in the world. Although the new season looks more like a shelter than with a traditional station, its construction by the conventional method would take more than two months and would cost twice, according to West Japan Railway Co.
With the aging of the Japanese population and the reduction of the workforce, the maintenance of the rail infrastructure, including old stations buildings, has become a growing challenge for rail operators. Rural stations with a small number of users have been particularly problematic.
The new season, called Hatsushima, is located in a quiet coastal city that is part of Arida, a city of 25,000 inhabitants in Wakayama province, which borders the popular tourist destinations of Osaka and Nara. The station, served by a single line with trains that circulate one to three times per hour, receives about 530 passengers per day.
Yui Nishino, 19, uses the station daily to go to university. She was surprised to learn that the world’s first 3D printed station building would be built there. “Watching the work, I see that it is progressing at a speed impossible with normal construction,” she said. “I hope you can build more buildings with 3D printing technology.”
Construction company Serendix, which worked with West Japan Railway in the project, said the impression of the pieces and the reinforcement with concrete took seven days. The impression was made at a factory in Kumamoto province, Kyushu Island in southwest Japan. The pieces left the factory on March 24 and were transported for about 800 kilometers to Hatsushima station.
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“Usually, construction occurs over several months, while trains are not circulating every night,” Kunihiro Handa, co -founder of Serendix, explained. Construction work near commercial lines is subject to rigorous restrictions and is usually performed at night so as not to interrupt trains schedules.
On Tuesday night, in late March, trucks began to arrive with 3D printed pieces, attracting dozens of residents who gathered to watch the unprecedented initiative in a family place. After the last train departed at 11:57 pm, the workers began assembly of the new station.
In less than six hours, pre-imprisoned pieces, made of a special type of mortar, were assembled. They were delivered to separate trucks, and a large crane was used to position them at the site, a few meters from the old season. The new season, which is just over 9 square meters, was completed before the first train arrived at 5:45.
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The minimalist and white building features designs that include a mandarin orange and a spade fish, specialties from Arida. It was still necessary to perform internal jobs and install equipment such as ticket machines and transport card readers. West Japan Railway said it hopes to open the new building for use in July.
Railway operators expect the station to demonstrate how the service can be kept in remote places with the use of new technologies and fewer workers. “We believe that the meaning of this project is in the significant reduction in the total number of people needed,” said Ryo Kawamoto, president of Jr West Innovations, the railway operator’s risk capital unit.
The wooden building that will be replaced by the new station has been completed in 1948. Since 2018, it operates automatically, like many smaller seasons in Japan. Toshifumi Norimatsu, 56, which manages the post office a few meters from the season, has mixed feelings about the new building.
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“I’m a little sad about the demolition of the old season,” he said. “But it would be happy if this season could become a pioneer and benefit other stations.”
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