Hitachi Rail USA, the American subsidiary of Hitachi Rail Italy has completed a manufacturing facility for Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works’ new Metrorail vehicles.

The 140,400 square-feet plant, located in Medley, Florida, will manufacture 136 cars and 272 motor bogies (the structural subassembly which accommodates wheels, axles, motor and gear box) needed to replace the county’s Metrorail fleet. The plant was completed in approximately six months.

The assembly of the Metrorail vehicles began this month, and the first completed vehicles will begin the qualification-testing phase by the end of the year. The first new Metrorail vehicles will be put into service in late 2017, after completing the testing phase. The production of the new Metrorail vehicles will last until the first half of 2019.

The construction of this new Hitachi production site involved more than 50 sub-contractors and suppliers, principally based in Miami-Dade County or in South Florida, and required the development of almost 50,000 man-hours of construction.

“This is the first facility that Hitachi Rail is opening in the United States, and we’re excited that the company has chosen to invest in our world-class community,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. “The opening of this production facility is projected to create 100 jobs in Miami-Dade County and many local subcontracts. We look forward to working with Hitachi to put our residents to work, further diversify our economy, and deliver cleaner, safer, more reliable and convenient mobility options to our 2.6 million residents.”

“The production system that has been prepared for Miami allows us to achieve high performance and build modern vehicles that meet the needs of the transportation fleet for Miami-Dade County,” said Kentaro Masai, COO of Hitachi Rail, “Our primary goal is to ensure a quality product in a timely fashion.”