WR’s 46 isolation coaches gather dust at Surat station

Surat: While the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is grappling with rising Covid-19 cases and arranging for more beds in private hospitals, the isolation facility created in train coaches by the Western Railway (WR) is gathering dust at the Surat railway station.
In April, the WR had deployed two racks (trains) with 23 coaches each at the coaching depot of the Surat railway station to aid the treatment of the Covid-19 patients.
The facility has air conditioned coaches for the doctors and healthcare staff with all the facilities.
The 46 coaches can accommodate 736 patients.
A senior SMC officer asking anonymity said, “We did not know that the WR has set up isolation coaches at railway station. We will have to survey the facility inside the coaches to take final decision on utilizing the facility.”
C R Garuda, area railway manager (ARM) told TOI, “We are ready with the isolation coach infrastructure, but haven’t received request from the state government or local administration for utilizing the facility. In Delhi, the isolation coaches of the railways are already under use for treatment of Covid-19 patients.”
Member of the Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), Rakesh Shah told TOI, “Instead of bringing the private hospitals under the Covid-19 treatment, the isolation coaches should be used for the treatment of the patients.”