AP receives 1st Oxygen Express

Nellore: The first Oxygen Express for Andhra Pradesh reached the Krishnapatnam Port in the district on Saturday.

The express with two containers of 40 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen reached the port while another is on its way, a press release from South Central Railway (SCR) said.

The SCR said two additional trains with a combined capacity of 140 tonnes are on their way to Telangana.

The train for Andhra was operated from Durgapur in West Bengal and covered a distance of nearly 1,650 km in around 27 hours, the release said.

The train came through the green corridor at an average speed of 65 kmph, it said.

The Oxygen Expresses are being operated by the Railways across the length and breadth of the country as per the request of the state governments.

Accordingly, Oxygen Expresses have been received in Telangana and Andhra, the release said.

Additionally, one more express with 76.39 tonnes is on its way to Guntur.

Meanwhile, principal secretary (health) Anil Kumar Singhal said six tankers carrying 110 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen from the Reliance plant in Jamnagar would arrive in Guntur on Sunday.

"In all, we will be getting 230 tonnes of LMO over and above the 590 tonnes allotted to the state.

We will store the additional oxygen in different districts to meet the emergency needs," Anil said. Another two tankers would also come from Durgapur in the next two days, he added.