New Delhi: Amid the ever-increasing coronavirus cases in the country, the Indian Railways is all set to operate ‘Oxygen Express’ trains for the transport of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) and oxygen cylinders, the ministry of railways said in a statement on Sunday.

What is Oxygen Express all about?

So far, various states have reported a shortage of hospitals beds, medicines and most importantly medical oxygen due to the sudden surge in the COVID-19 cases. In a bid to facilitate hospitals in the fight against the deadly virus, the Indian Railways will soon be transporting Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) and oxygen cylinders across the key corridors in the country.

“Railways is leaving no stone unturned in the battle against COVID-19. We will be running Oxygen express trains using green corridors to get Oxygen in bulk and rapidly to patients,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal wrote on Twitter˘.

“Roll on Roll off Oxygen trucks getting loaded for Oxygen Express. Under PM @NarendraModi ji’s leadership, Govt of India is committed to doing everything possible to help COVID-19 patients,” he wrote in another tweet while sharing a video of trucks getting with the Oxygen.

Noting that oxygen is a key element in the treatment of certain medical conditions in the Covid-19 infection, the railways ministry said it has explored the technical feasibility of transportation of LMO tankers at the request of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments.

“Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra state governments had approached Ministry of Railways to explore whether liquid medical oxygen (LMO) tankers could be moved by Railways,” the release from the ministry said.

Railways explored the technical feasibility of transportation of LMO. LMO has to be transported through Roll On Roll Off (RO RO) service with road tankers placed on flat wagons.

What the government is planning?

The ministry said that a green corridor is being created to ensure fast movement of Oxygen Express trains, which will ply after the completion of technical trials. Following the trials, the railway ministry said in a release that, “empty tankers would be moved from Kalamboli, and Boisar railway stations in and near Mumbai, and sent to Vizag and Jamshedpur, Rourkela, and Bokaro, for loading of liquid medical oxygen tankers.”

The announcement was made a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a review meeting in which he directed that the installation of approved medical oxygen plants should be sped up. As per the reports, the officials said that 162 PSA oxygen plants are being installed in 32 states and Union territories from PM CARES and one lakh cylinders are being procured, which will be supplied to states soon.

India has reported 2,73,810 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, as per the data updated by the health ministry. The highest one-day surge so far took India’s Covid caseload past the 1.5 crore mark. 1,619 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours.