CHENNAI/TIRUPPUR: Oxygen on wheels is the new reality. As the State would receive its first Oxygen Express carrying Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) at Tiruvallur station from Rourkela on May 16, CII-Young Indians have teamed up with Sakthi Nursing Home, Shiv Niketan School, and Tiruppur Riders Club, to launch ‘Oxygen Bus’ for Covid-19 patients free of cost in Tiruppur.
AS Tamil Nadu is grappling with the shortage of medical oxygen to treat its Covid-19 patients, the Southern Railways has commenced works to ferry the life-saving gas from Odisha and West Bengal to the State. To bring oxygen from Rourkela, an empty Oxygen Express had been despatched from Tiruvallur on Tuesday late evening.
Meanwhile, explaining what prompted them to launch the ‘Oxygen Bus’ initiative, CII-Young Indians (Covid wing) coordinator H Iranthar Kumar said, “When we heard about scarcity of oxygen cylinders for Covid-19 patients, we decided to resolve the situation.
Your attention please... Oxygen on rails expected to arrive on Sunday
“With the support of other members from Tiruppur Riders Club, the entire vehicle was renovated to suit the purpose and we were able to create 5 seats for Covid patients. The entire cost will be borne by these organisations,” he added. Explaining further, CII-Young Indian (Tiruppur) Chairman Pranav Sai Velavan said, “This is just a pilot bus equipped with oxygen facilities.
More buses are planned and they will be stationed in front of the medical facilities offering Covid care, if the patients are unable to get the bed in the facilities, they can board the bus and remain until they get a bed in another hospital. Currently, a nurse and two volunteers along with the bus driver will be positioned inside the bus.” In the meantime, the Oxygen Express trains, with their tankers, will be filled with oxygen on Thursday or Friday and reach Tiruvallur on May 16.
The train comprises seven flattype wagons, of which, two are loaded with cryogenic tankers. Each cryogenic tank has the capacity to carry 13 MT of LMO. “We have sent two cryogenic tanks. Depending on the availability of tanks and oxygen at the Rourkela plant, more tanks will be loaded. The total quantum of oxygen can be confirmed only after the tanks get filled,” said a railway official.
Advantage of RO-RO service
The train will reach Rourkela in Odisha covering 1,685 km on Thursday. It will pass through Vyasarpadi, Tiruvottiyur, Gudur, Bitragunta, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, and Bhubaneswar. The second Oxygen Express will be operated from Durgapur (West Bengal) to Tamil Nadu.
The cryogenic tankers mounted on trucks are filled with oxygen and transported through RORO (Roll On and Roll Off) service. It will facilitate door-todoor delivery of oxygen at the hospitals as required by the States without having to unload it from the railway wagon and refill them again into the road vehicle. This helps in cutting down the transit time.
Ensuring smooth ride
“On receipt of request from the State government, we have mapped the movement of the Oxygen Express through Green corridor between origination and destination stations. Green corridor refers to the path in which the Oxygen Express will be run at the optimum speed without any detention by duly ensuring green signals for its seamless transportation,” added the railway official.
As height is one of the important factors in determining the speed of the train, the green corridor is mapped, taking into account various factors such as structure and terrain like roadover- bridge, platform canopies, overhead equipment, curves, etc. “We will deliver the oxygen at Tiruvallur, from there the tanks will be transported to hospitals,” explained the official. The Railways has so far delivered nearly 6,260 tonnes of LMO onboard 100 Oxygen Express trains since April 19, when it started its first such service, an official statement said on Tuesday.