Will deliver 120 metric tonnes of oxygen to Delhi by May 2: Indian Railways

The national carrier will also deliver 124.26 metric tonnes of oxygen to Telangana by May 2.

Yaruqhullah Khan

May 01, 2021 / 20:47 IST

Oxygen concentrator (Representative image/Shutterstock)

The Indian Railways will deliver 120 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in six tankers from Durgapur, West Bengal in the next 24 hours, the Ministry of Railways said on May 1. Apart from Delhi, Telangana will also receive 124.26 metric tonnes of oxygen by May 2, Suneet Sharma, Chairman of Railway Board said. The national carrier also said it is currently operating its third Oxygen Express train carrying 30.6 MT liquid medical oxygen in two tankers to Haryana from Angul. A train to Jabalpur carrying 22.19 metric tonne oxygen is also on its way from Rourkela and is expected to reach Jabalpur by May 1. Uttar Pradesh will also receive its eighth Oxygen Express train from Bokaro carrying 44.88 metric tonne oxygen in three tankers. Sharma also said that the Indian Railways will ensure that oxygen reaches wherever necessary in the minimum possible time.

"We are now receiving demand from every corner of the country and I want to reiterate the railways' commitment to service -- be it Oxygen express or covid coaches," Sharma said.

Till now the Indian Railways completed 25 Oxygen Express journeys moving 56 full tankers. So far, railways has delivered more than 813 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana.

Of the aforementioned 813 metric tonne, 174 MT was delivered to Maharashtra, 355 MT to UP, 134.77 MT to MP, 70 MT to Delhi and 79 MT to Haryana.

Furthermore, Sharma said that freight carried by the Indian Railways in April was the highest ever in the month of April in any year.

However, when compared to the freight carried in March, freight carried in April fell 8% year, data from the railway ministry showed.

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