The first Oxygen Express carrying seven tankers filled with liquid medical oxygen from Visakhapatnam reached Maharashtra on Friday night.
It arrived in Nagpur at 8.10 pm on Friday and reached Nashik on Saturday morning.
“Railways took the movement of “Oxygen Express” as a challenge and successfully ran the first oxygen express from Kalamboli to Vizag and back up to Nashik. The moment railways got the request, ramps were made at various places immediately for the movement of liquid medical oxygen tankers. The work done by the team in Mumbai must be appreciated as the ramp was made within 24 hours at Kalamboli,” Central Railway chief public relations officer (PRO) Shivaji Sutar told a publication.
“For the movement of Ro-Ro service, Railways had to map the entire route considering the various constraints like Ghat sections, road over bridges, tunnels, curves, platform canopies, overhead equipment, etc. at certain locations. The Mumbai division has two ghat sections – south and north side i.e., Bhor Ghat on the south-east side and Kasara –Igatpuri ghat on the northeast side. The height is an important aspect/parameter in the movement of the Ro-Ro service. The rolling stock to transport liquid medical oxygen i.e., the model of road tanker T1618 with a height of 3320 mm and DBKM flat wagons with a height of 1,290 mm is not permitted to carry/travel in ghat sections due to the height restrictions in tunnels, OHE wire, etc. and safety reasons. Hence, the route was mapped via Vasai, Surat, Jalgaon,” explained Shivaji Sutar.
Surjitt Sahani
