The first Oxygen Express Train reached Assam on May 23. (Photo Courtesy: NFR)
Maligaon, May 23 (MExN): In the fight against COVID-19, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) today ran a special train to supply Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to Assam. The first Oxygen Express train which left from Tata Nagar in Jharkhand on May 22 carrying 4 containers loaded with 80 tonnes of LMO, arrived at the Inland Container Depot at Amingaon in Assam on May 23.
Chief Minister of Assam, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma along with the General Manager of NF Railway, Anshul Gupta arrived at the Inland Container Depot, Amingaon to receive the first consignment of LMO. The Chief Minister expressed gratitude towards the central government for providing 80 tonnes of LMO to the state and thanked Indian Railways for their role in transporting the same.
Railway created a Green Corridor and through run of the train was ensured by proper planning and monitoring at all levels for fast and safe movement of the life saving consignment. The oxygen express train covered a distance of 630 Km in just about 9 hours from Malda Town to Amingaon with an average speed more than 70 Kmph which is more than the average speed of Rajdhani Express trains.
A press release from the NFR stated that the Indian Railways is continuing its journey of bringing relief by delivering Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to various states across the country. So far, Indian Railways has delivered more than 15284 MT of LMO in more than 936 tankers to various states across the country. It may be noted that 234 Oxygen Expresses have completed their journey so far and brought relief to various States.
Railways have mapped different routes with Oxygen supply locations and keep itself ready with any emerging need of the States.
“In order to ensure that Oxygen relief reaches in the fastest time possible, Railways is creating new standards and unprecedented benchmarks in running of Oxygen Express Freight Trains. Running on high priority Green Corridor, with a highest sense of urgency, operational teams of various zones are working round the clock in most challenging circumstances to ensure that Oxygen reaches in fastest possible time frame,” the press release stated.
