Covid-19: Railways' Special Express Carrying 3 Tankers Of Liquid Oxygen Reaches Lucknow

A special train carrying three tankers of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow on Saturday morning.

Another ‘Oxygen Express’ is expected to reach Nashik, Maharashtra today.

Last week, the Railways decided to run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains in the backdrop of numerous states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi facing a massive shortage of medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients.

Empty tankers will be loaded with medical oxygen from Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro, it had said.

Roll-on-roll-off trucks are being transported on flat wagons by the trains for quick supply of medical oxygen.

"Two trucks of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow around 6.30 am while one truck was offloaded in Varanasi. Each truck has a capacity of containing 15,000 litres of medical oxygen," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI.

He said both the trucks may be used for Lucknow and a decision will be taken soon.

The train arrived from Bokaro in Jharkhand.

"The arrival of two trucks of medical oxygen will meet around half the demand of Lucknow for Saturday. The state capital will now be in a better position," Awasthi said.

Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh told PTI, "The arrival of Oxygen Express will significantly ease the current situation in the state."

The railways on Wednesday had said it will run its second Oxygen Express to Uttar Pradesh after a request was received from the state government.

Amid spiralling coronavirus cases in the country, the demand for medical oxygen has gone through the roof.

(With PTI inputs)