Railways delivered 19,408 tonnes of oxygen to 39 cities over last month

The Railways has delivered over 19,408 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in more than 1,162 tankers to 39 cities in 15 states over the last month amid the second wave of the COVID-19 infection, the national transporter said on Friday.

So far, 289 Oxygen Express trains have completed their journey while 11 more are on their way carrying more than 865 tonnes of the life-saving gas in 50 tankers.

Oxygen Express trains started their deliveries on April 24 with Maharashtra receiving a load of 126 tonnes. Among the southern states, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana have received over 1,000 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen each.

These trains reached out to 15 states -- namely Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam.

Till now, 614 tonnes of oxygen has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 3,731 tonnes in Uttar Pradesh, 656 tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 5,185 tonnes in Delhi, 1,967 tonnes in Haryana, 98 tonnes in Rajasthan, 1,773 tonnes in Karnataka, 320 tonnes in Uttarakhand, 1,554 tonnes in Tamil Nadu, 1,268 tonnes in Andhra Pradesh, 225 tonnes in Punjab, 380 tonnes in Kerala, 1,432 tonnes in Telangana, 38 tonnes in Jharkhand and 160 tonnes in Assam.

The Indian Railways has mapped different routes with oxygen supply locations and keeps itself ready with any emerging need of the states. States provide tankers to the Indian Railways for bringing liquid medical oxygen, the national transporter said in a release.

Crisscrossing the country, the Railways is picking up oxygen from Hapa, Baroda and Mundra in the West and Rourkela, Durgapur, Tatanagar, Angul in the east and delivering Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Assam in complex operational route planning scenarios.

In order to ensure that oxygen relief reaches in the fastest time possible, the Railways is creating new standards and unprecedented benchmarks in the running of Oxygen Express Freight Trains, the release stated.

The average speed of these freight trains is way above 55 kmph in most cases over long distances.