Japanese railway turns to 3D printed replacements for ageing shelters that can be built in less than 6 hours

I'll spare you the customary rant about the highs and lows of using the British railway system. Instead, let me tell you about how Japan is getting it right when it comes to promptly replacing key infrastructure.

Hatsushima is a small station in Wakayama Prefecture. Part of the Kisei main line, up to three trains and 530 travellers an hour pass through this sleepy stop. For some time, the primarily wooden structures offering shelter to passengers have been showing their age. In short, it was due an upgrade—and construction firm Serendix put together their 3D printed replacement in less than six hours (via Ars Technica).

Now, to be clear, this is neither a flimsy, plastic structure, nor did the entire construction of the new shelter take only half a morning. To start with Serendix, a company that has previously worked to 3D print replacement homes in less than 24 hours, owns a number of machines capable of 3D printing with concrete. The full build process, as originally reported by The New York Times, took about a week. Once the company had fabricated the composite parts, these elements were shipped by rail and assembled in Hatsushima—just in time for the first train to pass through at 5:45 am.

The new shelter is made of 3D printed layers of mortar, reinforced with steel, and then basically frosted all over like a cake made out of concrete. Delicious, though I wouldn't advise taking a bite out of this structure; the 3D printed shelter offers nothing like a spongy crumb, and even offers a decent amount of earthquake resistance.

Though this assembly took place back in late March, passengers can't actually use the compact, 10 square metre shelter just yet as it still needs a few finishing touches, such as new ticket machines to be installed. That said, it should be up and running by July.

At any rate, the shelter's entire timeline is still lightning fast compared to the timescale I'm used to seeing for works projects carried out by my local council (don't get me started on the recent midnight roadworks). Still, it's not easy maintaining smaller, remote transport links either; I spent much of my teens living a ten minute walk away from a stop served by a single bus once an hour if I was lucky—and the smell of the wooden shelter haunts me to this day.

A 3D printed replacement wouldn't have just exorcised that cloying phantom, but also could prove a markedly cost effective solution for maintaining smaller stops. President of JR West's venture capital arm, Ryo Kawamoto, explained to The New York Times, "We believe that the significance of this project lies in the fact that the total number of people required will be reduced greatly."

In other words, the somewhat automated fabrication process and streamlined construction of the Hatsushima shelter required fewer workers compared to similar, non-3D-printed projects. Therefore, this is likely far from the last time rail travellers throughout Japan are likely to see 3D printed structures on a platform near them.

Though a time-saving use of 3D printing, it still doesn't quite beat the Beth Deck, a gaming handheld that can be put together in 15 minutes. And that's got me blue sky thinking: how else could 3D printing help me, a time and transport challenged journalist? 3D printed desks and gaming chairs? Heck, 3D printed, in-demand graphics cards? Maybe one day even a cheeky 3D printed event space so I don't have to place myself at the mercy of the British railway system yet again…

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