An Oxygen Express train of the Indian Railways will supply 200 metric tonnes (MT) of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to Bangladesh, the Ministry of Railways informed on Saturday. This is the first instance of an Oxygen Express being pressed into service to transport LMO to a neighbouring country or operate on foreign land, the ministry further noted.
"Indian Railways' Oxygen Express service is set to embark on its journey to Bangladesh. This is the first time ever that it has been put into operation to a neighbouring country. Today, an indent was placed at Tatanagar in Chakradharpur Division under the South Eastern Railway to transport 200 MT of LMO to Benapole, Bangladesh," a press release from the Railways ministry stated. The release also highlighted that the said capacity of oxygen was stored across 10 containers, the process of loading which was completed at 9:25am on Saturday.
The ministry's official Twitter handle shared a short clip of the train embarking on its journey, as well as images of containers being loaded on it.
Oxygen Express trains were announced in April and began operations on the 24th of that month, as hospitals from across the country reported an acute shortage of liquid medical oxygen amid the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. According to official figures, a total of 480 such trains have supplied more than 35,000 MT of LMO to various states, till now.
{{/usCountry}}Oxygen Express trains were announced in April and began operations on the 24th of that month, as hospitals from across the country reported an acute shortage of liquid medical oxygen amid the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. According to official figures, a total of 480 such trains have supplied more than 35,000 MT of LMO to various states, till now.
{{/usCountry}}Previously, India has donated anti Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh under its "Vaccine Maitri" initiative.