First Oxygen Express to transport medical oxygen to TN departs to Odisha

Tamil Nadu's first Oxygen Express train with two empty cryogenic tankers left for Odisha early on Wednesday to bring medical oxygen amid a surge in COVID cases in the southern state.

The military bogie well type (MBWT) wagons or flat type wagons, would reach Rourkela in Odisha by May 13 and the empty tankers would be filled with oxygen and dispatched to Tamil Nadu.

''The train left by 3.35 am on May 12'', a Southern Railway official told PTI.

The cryogenic tankers mounted on trucks would be filled with liquid medical oxygen (LMO) and loaded onto the flat wagons and transported by rail through RO-RO (Roll-On and Roll-off) service.

The RO-RO service would facilitate door-to-door delivery of oxygen at the hospitals as required by the state governments without having to unload from the railway wagon and refill them again, thereby cutting down the transmit time ''immensely'', a release said.

The empty Oxygen Express comprises seven MBWT wagons, of which two loaded with cryogenic tankers, two Bogie Open Military New (BOMN) wagons, and one for the accompanying staff.

As of Tuesday, Tamil Nadu recorded 29,272 new COVID-19 cases taking the caseload to 14.38 lakh overall, while 298 deaths pushed the toll to 16,178.

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