Bhubaneswar: In a move to provide Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) during the pandemic period to different States those having insufficient Oxygen, Indian Railways is running Oxygen Express Special Trains to & from different parts of the country.
During this COVID-19 upsurge, East Coast Railway has taken up the lead role for transportation of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in a major way for saving lives of patients. Till today, ECoR has carried 2600.02 tons of LMO from different Steel Plants of its jurisdiction towards different States.
The first rake of loaded LMO by Indian Railways was was sent from Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Visakhapatnam to Nagpur & Nasik. 40 Oxygen Express Special Trains loaded with Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in 162 containers were sent from ECoR jurisdiction towards different States of the Country. Loaded LMO rakes form Durgapur, Tatanagar, and Rourkela going towards Secunderabad, Chennai and Bangalore have also been passing through ECoR jurisdiction with top priority.
Out of the 40 Oxygen Express special trains from ECoR jurisdiction, almost half of them received by Delhi & Haryana areas. About 1010.09 tons of LMO through 63 containers in 19 Oxygen Express Trains arw transported to Delhi & Haryana. Oxygen Express Trains from ECoR jurisdiction have also been sent to Maharastra, Telengana, Kerala, Tamilnadu & Karnatak States. ECoR has carried 545.31 tons of LMO to Maharashtra, 117.9 tons to Kerala, 685.7 tons to Telengana, 120 tons to Tamilnadu and 120.98 tons to Karnataka.
East Coast Railway is providing Food packets and water bottles for the Crew Members of all Oxygen Express Special Trains going to various States in ECoR jurisdiction. Apart from the Crew members, the staffs of Road Vehicles carried in Trains are also being taken care in ECoR jurisdiction.
Steel Plants like Tata Bhusan Limited and Jindal Steel & Power Limited at Angul and Tata Steel Limited at Kalinga Nagar have contributed majorly in Oxygen loading from ECoR jurisdiction. Till now, 33 Oxygen Express Trains loaded with LMO sent from Angul area, 06 from Kalinga Nagar area and 01 from Visakhapatnam area towards various States from ECoR jurisdiction for saving life of patients affected in Covid19 infection in this pandemic.
East coast Railway has taken all precautions for safe running of Oxygen Express Special Trains from its jurisdiction and sending these trains at the earliest. Apart from this, Oxygen Special Trains from other Steel Plants beyond ECoR jurisdiction have also been given priority as in “Green Corridor” for safe running and early movement to their destinations.
Ms Kalinga