The Maryland Department of Transportation received the first batch of electric train cars that will replace its aging fleet.
As Luke Parker reports in The Baltimore Sun, the 78 new cars are produced by Hitachi Rail and feature wider doors, brighter, energy-efficient lighting, and more bike storage. It is the system’s first major overhaul since 1983.
“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 the gate — Baltimore and Washington’s transit systems courted themselves among the earliest customers.”…