Japan Is Building World’s First 3D-Printed Train Station

Japan’s West Japan Railway Company just unveiled the world’s first 3D-printed train station.

Some of us are just getting used to 3D printing tabletop gaming figures. Others are just starting to scratch the surface of how to 3D print sturdy, inexpensive homes. Japan, however, skipped ahead several thousand steps and is 3D printing the place where a train picks you up.

This new station, located in Wakayama Prefecture, went from nothing to built or, um, printed in less than three hours—and cost half as much as traditional concrete. The company behind it is called Serendix, which specializes in the aforementioned 3D-printed homes.

The company delivered the station in four modular parts via the very type of train that will be regularly stopping at its station.

Japan Is Installing a 3D-Printed Train Station

The newly printed station wasn’t just cost-effective but is supposedly earthquake-resistant, too. I guess time will tell if that claim holds any water. It’s scheduled to officially open in July, when it will begin serving as a crucial gateway for travelers heading to the vacation destination of Jinoshima Island, just in time for the summer.

According to Futurism, many of Japan’s metro and regional train services are privately owned and act as property developers that rapidly develop urban areas around transportation hubs. Frankly, it’s all a little shocking considering that, as Futurism also points out, whenever a country privatizes its rail transportation, rail service usually gets significantly worse.

Whatever Japan has worked out with its privatized rail systems seems to be more the exception than the rule.

Japan’s population is shrinking and aging, and its workforce is along with it. “With Japan facing a declining and aging workforce, introducing innovative technologies such as 3D printing will facilitate the modernization of railway infrastructure planning,” JR West said in a statement.