MD: First batch of railcars from bullet train giant hit Baltimore Metro system
Baltimore is running its first batch of Hitachi railcars underground with six new transports installed in its metro system on Thursday.
In an agency news release, Maryland Department of Transportation Acting Secretary Kathryn Thomson said the new railcars represent a commitment to both city riders and the “region’s economic vitality.”
“This is far more than a fleet replacement,” Thomas said, “it is a generational investment in creating a modern, reliable and safe transportation network.”
Produced by Hitachi Rail, the manufacturer of Japan’s famed and fast bullet trains, the railcars feature wider doors, brighter, energy-efficient lighting, more room for bikes, and improvements to audio and visual announcements.
Officials said the railcars were also assembled in the company’s new, $100 million factory in Western Maryland. The Hagerstown facility opened for business in September, generating upwards of 500 jobs in Washington County and securing $2 billion in contracts out of the gate — Baltimore and Washington’s transit systems were among the earliest customers.
Holly Arnold, administrator of the Maryland Transit Administration, told The Baltimore Sun last year that the 78-car deal with Hitachi would be the Baltimore system’s first major overhaul since the Metro SubwayLink opened in 1983.
The remaining railcars will be phased in throughout 2026, officials said, and the total fleet is expected to be completed by 2027. According to the MTA, the Baltimore metro hosts about 15,000 riders per day.
Mayor Brandon Scott said Thursday that for years, the subway map in Baltimore has represented two things in the city: unfinished potential and intentional disinvestment.
Speaking at a ribbon-cutting for the new railcars at the Johns Hopkins metro station, Scott told a crowd that he took the subway every day to get to high school. The commute home, he said, required him to catch rides from a bus and a subway if he wanted to get home within two hours.
“Those of us who grew up in Baltimore felt and saw that disinvestment each and every time we took the subway … but today, we’re working together to undo that legacy and counter the disinvestment by being just as intentional in the way that we invest in transit in our city.”
Changes in public transportation have been spurred by large investments at the state and federal levels, including more than $1 billion directed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s administration to modernize the light rail system.
They also come at a time of reported need in the region.
According to the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, a coalition of corporate and civic leaders that evaluates transportation options for citizens and businesses, problems across the region included access, safety, commute times and aging infrastructure.
A 2026 report card released by the group last month found that, across all forms of public transit, a typical Baltimorean can get to only 7.5% of jobs in the region in under an hour.
The alliance gave the Baltimore area an overall grade of D compared to 19 peer regions across the country. It was the same mark Baltimore received in the inaugural 2015 report, despite improvements in service frequency and reliability.
Highlighting more than $400 million in federal funding, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in the release Thursday that the improvements to Baltimore’s metro will help a system that keeps the local economy “on the move.”
“These new rail cards will provide safer, more reliable and more comfortable service for thousands of daily commuters in Baltimore,” Van Hollen, a Democrat, said.
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