Covid-19: ‘Oxygen Express’ comes to rescue of states facing shortage of supply

The Railways are running the “Oxygen Express” train from steel plants that produce oxygen to different parts of the country.

Here’s a list of states where the Oxygen Express has been able to deliver oxygen

Maharashtra

The first Oxygen Express carrying seven tankers filled with liquid medical oxygen from Visakhapatnam reached Maharashtra on Friday (April 23). The train arrived at Nagpur at 8.10 pm, bringing relief to the state which is reeling under a surge in coronavirus cases and shortages of medical oxygen.

The train carrying the oxygen tankers pulled out from a facility run by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) in Visakhapatnam on Thursday evening. Each tanker is carrying 15 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen. “A joint effort by Waltair Division of East Coast Railways, and officials of RINL made the project a success. This will prove to be highly beneficial during the recent upsurge in COVID-19,” the railways said in a statement on Thursday.

Uttar Pradesh

An Oxygen Express train carrying three tankers of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday morning from Bokaro in Jharkhand. “Two trucks of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow around 6.30 am while one truck was offloaded in Varanasi. Each truck has a capacity of containing 15,000 litres of medical oxygen,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said.

Second Oxygen special train with tankers of oxygen arrives in Lucknow from Bokaro in Jharkhand pic.twitter.com/HQMpeA7VHt

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He added, “The arrival of two trucks of medical oxygen will meet around half the demand of Lucknow for Saturday. The state capital will now be in a better position.”