Oxygen Express leaves for Lucknow from Bokaro station

BOKARO: The Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) on Friday afternoon dispatched a special freight train carrying nearly 50 tons of medical oxygen from Bokaro Steel City railway station to Lucknow. The train was loaded with three tankers, each of which contained a little over 16 tons of oxygen.
The BSL management claimed it has already dispatched 230 tons of oxygen to Uttar Pradesh via road. “In April alone, 764 tons of liquid oxygen has been supplied to Ranchi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh by road,” the PSU said.
Termed Oxygen Express by the Indian Railways, the train rolled into the diesel shed of Bokaro station in the early hours of Friday. The tankers were de-boarded through special ramps for loading, area railway manager (Bokaro) Prabhat Prasad said.
The tankers were taken to the PSU’s captive oxygen plant operated by Inox Air products.
Amarendu Prakash, the director in-charge of BSL, said: “The oxygen plant in BSL produces 150 tons of liquid oxygen per day. We dispatched three tankers. The BSL has reduced its liquid oxygen consumption so that it can supply oxygen to the hospitals in Jharkhand and across the country.”
State Congress president Rajesh Thakur, however, questioned the feasibility of the exercise. “The Union railway minister (Piyush Goyal) has sent just three tankers in a train. Is it viable? It is a wastage of public money for a small consignment. But the minister is eyeing publicity. Hence, he is constantly tweeting about the train since it left Bokaro station,” Thakur said.