Hitachi Rail Opens New Factory in Maryland

HAGERSTOWN, Md. –– Hitachi announced this week that it has opened a new factory in Maryland, which it calls a "lighthouse digital factory."

The factory will build railcars for customers in North America, is carbon neutral, and has over $30M in digital enhancements. Customers for Hitachi’s railcars include systems in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.

The new factory was officially opened on September 8 by Hitachi Ltd’s Executive Chairman Toshiaki Higashihara, Hitachi Ltd’s President and CEO, Toshiaki Tokunaga, and Hitachi Rail’s Group CEO, Giuseppe Marino. The facility measures 307,000 sq. ft. and cost $100M. The facility also operates with zero landfill waste.

The facility sports an immersive and interactive customer experience center that enables demonstration of One Hitachi’s technologies. For example, visitors can learn about the plant’s digital enhancements to optimize quality and delivery, as well as Hitachi’s wider solutions from modern signaling to its HMAX platform, which uses AI to optimize railway assets, which is an application of Lumada 3.0. Lumada 3.0 is a set of solutions “leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products,” according to the company.

The new Hitachi factory will support 1,300 jobs, with up to 460 people working directly for Hitachi Rail on site and in roles that will harness AI and smart manufacturing principles and offer next-generation manufacturing careers.

Hitachi officials present at the factory opening made the following remarks about the new facility:

“I would like to sincerely thank our customers, partners, Hitachi Group colleagues, and community leaders in the state of Maryland for their support in launching this new factory. The Hagerstown factory showcases the unique strengths of the Hitachi Group by integrating manufacturing expertise and digital and AI technologies across a wide range of our business domains as True One Hitachi. We will deliver ever greater value to our customers and society by addressing infrastructure and mobility challenges in the United States” – Toshiaki Tokunaga, President & CEO, Hitachi, Ltd.

“Our $100M Hagerstown site represents a strategic investment in North America, sustaining 1,300 jobs and delivering the next generation of rail manufacturing. The site is carbon neutral and harnesses the impressive capabilities of the Hitachi Group to ensure our customers benefit from smart manufacturing powered by transformative digital and AI technologies. Able to deliver up to 20 rail cars per month, the factory will be working at full pace to deliver important railcar contracts across North America, including in the Washington D.C. region.” – Giuseppe Marino, Group CEO, Hitachi Rail.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said “Today, we celebrate a major milestone in the partnership between Hitachi and the state of Maryland. Hitachi Rail’s new Hagerstown factory will not only create hundreds of jobs and power the region’s transit infrastructure with railcars equipped with cutting-edge technology, but it affirms Maryland’s position as a premier location for global investment in the industries of the future.”