Japan replaces an outdated wooden train station with a fully functional 3D-printed one in just six hours, a first for the country.

In a global first, a Japanese train station was constructed in less than six hours using 3D-printed parts. According to a New York Times story, the Hatsushima railway station was constructed by the construction company Serendix to replace an outdated wooden building between the final train of the night and the first train of the morning.

Located in a tranquil beach hamlet in the 25,000-person city of Arida in Wakayama Prefecture, the station serves about 530 people on a single line with trains operating one to three times every hour.

Compared to the old wooden station, the new structure is substantially smaller and barely over 100 square feet in size. According to the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), constructing the station in the old-fashioned manner would have cost twice as much and taken more than two months.

As the station components were produced in a plant in Kumamoto prefecture, almost 500 miles southwest of Hatsushima, JR West enlisted Serendix to expedite the process. It took seven days to print and strengthen the concrete. After that, the parts were driven to the station location, where they arrived early on March 24.

According to Serendix co-founder Kunihiro Handa, construction often occurs over several months, during which time the trains are not operating nightly.

Workers started putting the 3-D printed parts together after the final train departed the station at 11:57 p.m. Each 3D block was lifted by a crane and positioned close to the former station. The new building was completed prior to the arrival of the first train at 5:45 a.m.