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Mumbai: In the first of its kind experiment in the country, the first Oxygen Express on Monday departed from Kalamboli in Raigad district to Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The train containing seven large empty tankers will transport 110 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen from Vishakhapatnam.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had demanded the Central Government to allow transportation of oxygen from other states via rail route due to growing demand in the state amidst raging Covid crisis.
Responding to the CM’s demand, the Railways took steps on war-footing to press into the service the first ever Oxygen Express.
A state government press statement said that in the coming five days, 110 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen will be transported via railways. The state administration had suggested various options to the Centre, one of them being transportation of oxygen via rail route.
The Mumbai Division built a ramp overnight within 24 hours at Kalamboli goods yard to facilitate loading/unloading of tankers in/from flat wagons.
The state is now planning to press more Oxygen Express to help overcome shortage of oxygen.
Also, to ensure that train movement is not obstructed due to signals, a green corridor has been created which will help the train to reach Vishakhapatnam in mere one and a half days. Upon its arrival, oxygen will be loaded from Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and in next one to two days it will depart for Maharashtra. With this in the next five days it will transport around 110 metric tonnes of oxygen.
This train will run via Vasai Road, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Raipur Junction to Visakhapatnam steel plant siding in ECoR zone.
