Hitachi’s new train car plant in U.S. shown to media

Jiji Press

12:37 JST, October 19, 2022

WASHINGTON (Jiji Press) — A new train car plant currently being constructed in Hagerstown, Md., by Hitachi Ltd. was shown to the media Tuesday.

By investing $70 million for the plant, to be completed in early 2024, Hitachi aims to expand its train business in the United States.

At the plant, which is expected to create 1,300 jobs, the company plans to manufacture up to 800 subway train cars ordered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

In the United States, Hitachi currently has a train car plant in Miami.

Andrew Barr, CEO of Hitachi Rail Ltd., which conducts the Hitachi group’s train system business, said that the company hopes to also manufacture train cars other than those for subway systems at the new plant, including cars for interurban railroads.

The plant is expected to be able to make 20 train cars a month, ranging from subway cars to high-speed train cars, when it operates in full capacity.

Hitachi has won orders for high-speed train cars in Britain.

Barr said that the experience in Europe is a strength of the company.

Hitachi aims to capitalize on envisaged demand for investment in train and other environment-friendly public transportation systems, following the enactment in the United States of the Infrastructure Investment Act as well as the Inflation Reduction Act featuring investment in measures to fight climate change.