Soon Haryana to get its Oxygen Express train; Indian Railways ferries 510 tonnes of life-saving gas in 10 days

The Oxygen Express trains, since April 19, have delivered a cumulative 510 tonnes of life-saving gas to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi.

Over the next few days, Haryana will get its first Indian Railways’ Oxygen Express train with five tankers leaving Faridabad on Wednesday to load the gas from Rourkela in the state of Odisha. The Oxygen Express trains, since April 19, have delivered a cumulative 510 tonnes of life-saving gas to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi. The state government of Haryana has also requested for Oxygen Express to the national transporter. At present, tankers are being loaded in Faridabad. These tankers will be sent to Rourkela for filling. As of now, it has been decided that two Indian Railways’ Oxygen Express trains, each with a capacity of five tankers will be run specifically for the state of Haryana, according to a PTI report.

The first train of Oxygen Express was run on April 19 when seven trucks left the city of Mumbai for Vizag to load the gas. These seven trucks were loaded on flat wagons and they were moved to the loading location. Each Oxygen Express trains’ tanker can carry nearly 16 tonnes of medical oxygen. These train services run at a speed of around 65 km per hour.

Meanwhile, MP received its first Indian Railways Oxygen Express train carrying over 64 tonnes of LMO early Wednesday morning. The unloading of these tankers were done at various locations across the state like Sagar (three), Bhopal (two) and Jabalpur (one). The fourth Oxygen Express train destined for UP’s capital, Lucknow will reach there on Wednesday carrying three tankers of LMO.

Another empty rake that will bring another set of oxygen tankers replenishing the life-saving gas supply to UP is on its way from Lucknow to Bokaro. Continuous Oxygen Express train services to the state of UP is ensuring uninterrupted oxygen replenishment to Uttar Pradesh residents. So far, 202 tonnes of oxygen has been delivered to UP, 174 tonnes to Maharashtra, 70 tonnes to the national capital and 64 tonnes to MP.

Meanwhile, 191 coaches have been handed over to various states as per the states’ demand for Covid care with a bed-capacity of 2990 beds. At present, covid care isolation coaches are utilised at the national capital, MP (Tihi near Indore), Maharashtra (Ajni ICD, Nandrubar). The national transporter has also positioned 50 coaches at UP’s major cities like Bareli, Faizabad, Varanasi, Bhadohi and Nazibabad.