Oxygen Express: 10 containers carrying 150 tonnes of oxygen supplied in last 24 hrs

PTI, Apr 24, 2021, 8:18 PM IST

New Delhi: The railways have carried a total of 10 containers carrying nearly 150 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen to different states in the last 24 hours, the national transporter said on Saturday.

The ‘Oxygen Express’ trains with Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) tankers arrived in Nashik and Lucknow for supply to Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, respectively on Saturday.

Few containers were also unloaded at Nagpur and Varanasi en route to supply the oxygen in these regions, it said.

The third Oxygen Express started its journey from Lucknow Saturday morning, the railways said.

Andhra Pradesh and Delhi are in consultation with the national transporter to run more such trains.

The Oxygen Express service was started on April 21 when seven empty trucks left from Mumbai for Vizag to load oxygen.

“It may be noted that tankers filled with LMO at Visakhapatnam and Bokaro are presently being transported through Ro-Ro service of Indian Railways,” the railways said in a statement.

“To fulfill the requirements of medical oxygen in Uttar Pradesh, a green corridor was created between Lucknow to Varanasi for the movement of trains. The distance of 270 km was covered by the train in four hours and twenty minutes with an average speed of 62.35 kmph.

“A total of 10 containers having nearly 150 tonnes of oxygen have been carried in the last 24 hours,” the statement said.

The Indian Railways will continue to run Oxygen Express trains over the next few days to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders amid an acute shortage of life-saving gas as the Centre and various states/UTs struggle to combat the second wave of COVID-19.