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10/18/2022
Hitachi Rail today unveiled the final designs for its $70 million train factory under construction in Hagerstown, Maryland.
The factory and 800-yard test track will be built on a 41-acre site in Washington County. When the plant is completed in first-quarter 2024, employees will begin work on the plant's first order: 256 new 8000-series rail cars for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Hitachi Rail officials said in a press release.
Announced in March 2021, the WMATA contract includes options for up to 800 cars to be built. When fully operational, the factory will be able to complete up to 20 rail cars per month in a single shift, with the capability to produce a wide range of trains from metro to high-speed services.
Construction is on schedule with the factory's concrete deck and a majority of walls already constructed. Ryan Cos. is the project's lead contractor.
When fully operational, the factory will sustain 1,300 jobs, with up to 460 people working directly for Hitachi Rail on-site.
"Manufacturing pioneering trains is core to our business, and this factory, with its new workforce, will have the capability to build trains for all of North America," said Hitachi Rail CEO Andrew Barr.