CR’s special parcel trains help cancer, heart patients

Central Railway (CR) came to the rescue of two patients requiring critical medical supplies from Mumbai. A cancer patient and another heart ailment patient received

Central Railway (CR) came to the rescue of two patients requiring critical medical supplies from Mumbai. A cancer patient and another heart ailment patient received their medicines through special parcel trains.

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The zonal railway also assisted in the transport of camel milk from Falna in Rajasthan to Secunderabad in Telangana.

Amruta Chaurasia, a cancer patient who had gone to attend a wedding in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, was left with a limited supply of medicine after the lockdown was announced. Chaurasia’s son, Sandeep, a resident of Thane, tried to find a way to courier the medicines to her. When he contacted India Post on Twitter, he was directed to get in touch with the railways.

After Sandeep contacted the CR, a railway officer from Mulund collected the medicines and they were taken to Kalyan railway station on April 18. As the railway does not operate a direct parcel train from Mumbai to Gorakhpur, a connecting train from Nagpur was used to transport the medicines.

Similarly, the CR on Monday made an unscheduled halt of a parcel train at Chiplun railway station to deliver medicines to a heart patient who was staying in the area during the lockdown. Railway personnel collected the medicines from the patient’s residence at Vikhroli and transported them from Panvel railway station to Chiplun.

“Central Railway continues to deliver medicines, masks, hospital items, and other medical commodities through its time-tabled parcel services to strengthen the government efforts in managing the challenges and adverse impact of the coronavirus in the country,” said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relation officer, Central Railway.

Railway authorities also assisted in providing a transport link for camel milk from Rajasthan, for a two-year-old in Secunderabad. With no direct train between Falna in Rajasthan and Secunderabad in Telangana, the Central Railway on Sunday transported the camel milk from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus(CSMT) to Secunderabad within 28 hours.

The railway had earlier also launched a helpline portal SETU to assist people in booking supply of essential commodities through parcel trains.