India Fights COVID-19: Railways delivers record single-day load of over 1,018 MT of oxygen

In a biggest single day load, more than 1,018 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) has been delivered to various states in the country via 13 oxygen-express">Oxygen Expresses, the Railways said on Friday.

The Oxygen Expresses had been delivering nearly 800 MT of LMO to the nation each day for the last few days.

In its statement today, Railways said 208 oxygen-express">Oxygen Expresses have completed their journey, delivering 13,319 MT of LMO in more than 814 tankers to various states across the country so far.

Oxygen relief by Oxygen Expresses has reached out to 13 states, namely Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.

As per the latest data released by the ministry, Delhi has received the most oxygen relief with 4,110 MT, followed by Uttar Pradesh with nearly 3,338 MT. Maharashtra has received 614 MT of oxygen relief so far, while Haryana and Punjab received 1,619 MT and 153 MT respectively.

Telangana has received 772 MT and Tamil Nadu 649 MT oxygen relief. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala have been delivered 714 MT, 292 MT, and 118 MT of LMO respectively.

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand got 521 MT, 98 MT, and 320 MT of oxygen relief.

The Railways have mapped different routes with Oxygen supply locations and have kept themselves ready with any emerging need of the states. The states provide tankers to the Railways for bringing LMO.

Oxygen Express started with its delivery of oxygen relief days back on April 24 in Maharashtra with a load of 126 MT.

To ensure that oxygen relief reaches in the fastest time possible, Railways has created new standards and unprecedented benchmarks in the running of oxygen-express">Oxygen Express Freight Trains, the ministry informed.

The average speed of these critical Freight trains, in most cases, is way above 55 over long distances. These trains run on high priority Green Corridor, with the highest sense of urgency.

The operational teams of various zones have also been working round the clock in these challenging circumstances to ensure that Oxygen reaches in the fastest possible time frame.

Railways said that technical stoppages have also been reduced to 1 minute for crew changes over different sections. "Tracks are kept open and high alertness is maintained to ensure that Oxygen Express keeps zipping through. All this is done in a manner that speed of other Freight Operation does not get reduced as well", the ministry added.

(ANI)

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