Creation of the rail division and domestic activities , built by Hitachi in 1936 After the demand for ships decreased following the end of the
First World War, Hitachi, under its founder
Namihei Odaira, acquired the Kasado Factory in
Kudamatsu,
Yamaguchi from a nearly
bankrupt shipbuilder. This factory was converted into a locomotive manufacturing facility. In the 1920s, Hitachi's railway products included the
JNR Class ED15 locomotives, the first electric mainline locomotives built in Japan, and steam locomotives such as the
Class 8620 and
Class D50. In the 1950s, Hitachi began building
electric multiple units (EMUs). Early examples include the
Class 1000 Shinkansen prototypes (1962), the
0 Series Shinkansen (1964), and the
Series 485 dual-voltage express train (1964). This product line still exists today as
Hitachi Monorail, which is used in ten monorail systems as of .
Global expansion train produced by Hitachi Between 1984 and 1988, Hitachi's rail division delivered 120 CQ311 series railcars to
MARTA.
Hitachi Rail Europe (legally
Hitachi Rail Limited) was established in
London as the European headquarters of the company in 1999. Other
subsidiaries have been established globally. Hitachi markets a general-purpose train known as the "
A-train", which uses
double-skin,
friction-stir-welded aluminium body construction. On 24 February 2015, Hitachi agreed to purchase the Italian rolling stock manufacturer
Ansaldo Breda and acquire
Finmeccanica's stake in
Ansaldo STS, the
railway signaling division of Finmeccanica The purchase was completed later that year, at which point the company was renamed as
Hitachi Rail Italy. Since then, Hitachi has obtained a majority stake in Ansaldo STS. In August 2018,
Panama announced an agreement with Hitachi, its subsidiary Ansaldo STS, and
Mitsubishi Corporation for the supply of 28 six-car monorail trains specifically designed for the
Panama Metro Line 3. The contract was formalized in October 2020 for US$883 million with the prime contractor, HPH Consortium. Due to cost overruns on the Line 3 project, the order was later reduced to 26 trains to achieve savings. The trains, manufactured at the Hitachi Kasado Works and based on the design of
Osaka Monorail vehicles, were shipped to Panama between 2023 and 2025, with final delivery completed in July 2025. Commercial service is scheduled to begin in 2028. In July 2020, Hitachi signed an exclusive agreement with Hyperdrive, a UK-based lithium-ion battery company, to bring battery-powered trains to the country. In October 2020, Hitachi Rail won the contract to supply the
8000 series of railcars for the
Washington Metro. It opened a plant in
Hagerstown, Maryland in 2025 for the US market, replacing its previous plant in
Medley, Florida. Late in 2021,
Alstom announced the transfer of business relating to
Bombardier Zefiro 300 to Hitachi Rail, as a condition of Alstom's acquisition of
Bombardier put in place by the
European Commission in order to remain compliant with
EU competition law. The transaction was completed on 1 July 2022. In late 2022, Hitachi Rail won the contract to supply train sets for the
Ontario Line being planned in
Toronto, Canada. In May 2024, Hitachi Rail completed the acquisition of
Thales Group's Ground Transportation Systems in exchange for €1.66 billion, which expanded its global presence in the rail sector to 51 countries. Thereafter, Hitachi Rail and
MERMEC signed a put option agreement for the sale of Hitachi Rail’s main line signalling business in France along with its signalling business units in both Germany and the UK. In July 2024, Hitachi Rail won the contract to supply new M-5 trainsets for the
SEPTA Metro's
Market–Frankford Line in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. ==References==