The South Eastern Railway successfully sent the first Oxygen Express train from Tatanagar to Bangalore in Karnataka on Monday.

The train left for Bangalore on Monday afternoon with 120 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen in six 20 feet containers.

Due to a sharp surge in Covid-19 cases, the transportation of Liquid Medical Oxygen has become crucial and South Eastern Railway took the initiative of Oxygen Express from April 23 to different destinations.

The liquid oxygen was sourced from the Jamshedpur plant of Linde India, a leading manufacturer of oxygen and other industrial gases.

"The consignment of liquid oxygen gas was sent as per the requirement of the Karnataka government which had sent a request for oxygen for treatment of Covid-19 patients,” said Sanjay Ghosh, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway.

Significantly, so far, South Eastern Railway has run 38 Oxygen Express trains with 2,123 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen across the country to combat the deadly second wave of the Covid pandemic.

From SER’s jurisdiction, 21 trains have been sent towards Uttar Pradesh, nine trains towards Madhya Pradesh, four trains towards Haryana, three towards Delhi and one towards Karnataka.

These trains have originated from Bokaro, Rourkela and Tatanagar.

With a team of dedicated officers and other staff, SER is ensuring timely transportation of oxygen for Covid affected patients in various destinations.

The movement of these trains are given top priority and green corridors have been made for the trains.