Hitachi Rail opens new ‘lighthouse digital factory’ in Maryland

The new factory will be able to produce 20 railcars a month for customers throughout the region.
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Sept. 9, 2025
4 min read
Hitachi Rail
Two Hitachi employees work on the production line.
Hitachi says the facility emits zero CO2 emissions from a combination of solar usage and agreements for 100% renewable energy for usage that exceeds its generative capacity.

Hitachi Rail opened its lighthouse digital factory in Maryland on Sept. 8. The new carbon neutral factory is set to deliver railcars for customers across North America, including metros in the Washington, D.C., area, Baltimore and Philadelphia. 

The company says the $100 million, 307,000-square-foot site operates with zero landfill waste from day one

The lighthouse factory will also include a demonstration of One Hitachi’s technologies via an immersive and interactive customer experience center. Visitors will be able to learn about the plant’s digital enhancements to optimize quality and delivery, as well as the business’ wider solutions from modern signaling to its HMAX platform, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize railway assets.

By showing technologies in this factory for customers and partners, the Hitachi Group says it aims to address customer challenges across North America and beyond as One Hitachi, further expanding and deploying HMAX across a wide range of industries and business sectors.

“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,” said Hitachi, Ltd President and CEO Toshiaki Tokunaga. 

The company notes the opening event saw major institutional and transportation leaders presented with a showcase of Hitachi Group’s capabilities at the factory’s digital customer experience center. 

The facility, located in Hagerstown, Md., deploys technologies to create a factory that the company says is people-centric and digitally optimized. The factory will sustain 1,300 jobs with up to 460 working directly for Hitachi Rail on site in roles that will harness AI and smart manufacturing principles and offer next-generation manufacturing careers according to Hitachi.

“Thanks to President [Donald] Trump, America is quickly becoming the number one destination for private investment in the world. For communities like Hagerstown, that means hundreds of new jobs and millions in economic activity. This state-of-the-art Hitachi plant is a powerful example of this administration’s commitment to reshore jobs and build big, beautiful infrastructure projects that benefit American families,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

A next-generation digital factory

Built by Hitachi Rail, with aid from Hitachi Digital, GlobalLogic, Hitachi Digital Services and Hitachi Research & Development, the company says the facility brings physical AI to life and drives operational excellence through digital Kaizen—a process of continuous improvement through iterative changes enabled through One Hitachi.

Over $30 million has been invested in digital enhancements and the plant has been designed with a focus on high quality production and customer value creation. The company notes the smart factory harnesses real-time supply chain and manufacturing monitoring, local component manufacturing using 3D printing and on-site additive manufacturing for spares and tooling, and full transparency on product quality. 

Growth in North America

The company says the opening of the flagship factory confirms the expansion of Hitachi Rail’s business in North America, which mirrors that of Hitachi Group as a whole, with one sixth of the global technology and innovation business’ revenues now coming from North America. 

Hitachi Rail is delivering several fleets of railcars from the new digital factory, including from the Washington, D.C, region, Baltimore and Philadelphia with orders totaling over 600 railcars.

Sustainable by design

The plant emits zero CO2 emissions, combining solar panels and additional electricity needs fulfilled by an agreement to source 100% renewable electricity. The site includes substantial plantings and AI systems that monitor and optimize energy consumption efficiency. The plant will operate with zero landfill waste from day one and save 800,000 kilograms of CO2 annually through its solar panels.

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