Hyderabad: The first Oxygen Express for Telangana, with five tankers loaded with 124.26 tons of liquid oxygen, arrived here from Angul in Odisha at the Secunderabad train station on Sunday.
The five empty tankers were sent from Secunderabad on April 28 and after being filled with liquid oxygen, they began their journey back to Secunderabad on Saturday.
According to the South Central Railway (SCR), the liquid oxygen transported in these tanks is a cryogenic cargo that has many limitations such as the maximum speed at which it can be transported, maximum acceleration and deceleration and loading restrictions such as availability of liquid oxygen tankers , loading ramps, etc. The route maps of the train and the green corridor are done taking into account all these factors, including ensuring adequate distance along the route in terms of curves, RoBs and FOBs, etc.
The Oxygen Express trains were started by the Indian Railways to provide safe, secure, hassle-free and fast oxygen transportation to the different parts of the country during these critical times.
Under this initiative, the trucks (empty as well as loaded) are transported by rail by the Ro-Ro (Roll on-Roll Off) service. The Oxygen Express trains are operated at the request of the state governments. While the states supply the trucks, the Railways undertake to bring the oxygen supply to the requisition state in the fastest feasible condition.
Consequently, SCR managed these trains to meet the needs of the states. The Zone operated two empty Oxygen Express trains from Secunderabad, each with five empty tankers. The second one left on Saturday.
The general manager of SCR, Gajanan Mallya, has ensured that the railways will continue to give the highest priority to the management of the Oxygen Express trains. Any request received on this front will be processed immediately to run the trains as soon as possible. He advised all officers and staff to continuously monitor the movement of this train along the green corridor.
Source: The Siasat Daily