New Delhi, May 1: The second Oxygen Express for Delhi will carry the life-saving gas from West Bengal's Durgapur, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. The first such train arrived in Delhi from Chhattisgarh carrying 70 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen.
"Oxygen tanks are being loaded from Durgapur, West Bengal on Oxygen Express to provide Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) for patients in Delhi," Goyal said in a tweet.
This will be the first Oxygen Express which will carry the oxygen in containers provided by Singapore which were received at the container corporation terminal near Durgapur. Delhi Oxygen Crisis: Batra Hospital Faces Oxygen Shortage, 8 COVID-19 Patients Die Due to Lack of Life-Saving Gas.
The containers were directly loaded on flat wagons of the Oxygen Express and departed at around 12:45 pm for Delhi, officials said, adding that it will take the train around 18 hours to reach the national capital. The second train will carry 120 tonnes of medical oxygen for the oxygen starved national capital.
Meanwhile, the railway ministry also said that Haryana will receive its first and second Oxygen Express soon. Two trains, one from Rourkela to Haryana carrying 47.11 tonnes LMO in three tankers, and another one from Angul to Haryana carrying approximately 32 tonnes in two tankers, are on their way to their destination. The trains are scheduled to reach by Saturday afternoon, it said. Delhi Oxygen Crisis: High Court Warns of Contempt Action Against Centre If 490 Metric Tonne of Oxygen Is Not Supplied to National Capital Today.
The Haryana government had earlier sent empty tankers on cargo flight from Hindon to Bhubaneshwar, and loaded tankers from Angul were dispatched to Faridabad by rail.
Till Friday, the railways has delivered more than 664 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen to Maharashtra (174 tonnes), Uttar Pradesh (356.47 tonnes), Madhya Pradesh (47.37 tonnes) and Delhi (70 tonnes).