Railways to run “Oxygen Express” trains

New Delhi: Railways will run trains--Oxygen Express-- ferrying Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) tankers across from the country as several States have requested for it owing to shortage of medical oxygen due to sporadic rise in Covid-infected patients.

The Railways, in an official release, said Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra state governments had approached it to explore whether the LMO tankers could be moved by Railways.

It was found by the Railways that the LMO can be transported through Roll On Roll Off (RO RO) service with road tankers placed on flat wagons. In order to ensure that parameters of transportation are tested, trials were conducted at various locations.

It was decided that the tankers would be made available by Maharashtra. These empty tankers would then be moved from Kalamboli/Boisar, Railway stations in and near Mumbai, and sent to Vizag and Jamshedpur/Rourkela/Bokaro, for loading of liquid medical oxygen tankers from there, the release said.

Railways are awaiting advice from Maharashtra to move the tankers, it said.

A tentative movement plan has been made for dispatching 10 empty tankers on Monday, it added. (UNI)