Oxygen Express reaches Vizag Steel for filling

Visakhapatnam: The first Oxygen Express arrived at Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) for picking up the much-need gas for Covid-hit Maharashtra in the wee hours of Thursday.

The first batch of 100 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) from the Vizag Steel Plant is being loaded onto the Indian Railways' Oxygen Express.

A ramp for Ro-Ro (Roll-on-Roll-off) service was facilitated for the express at RINL. Trucks from flat wagons got down the ramp to get loaded with the liquid medical oxygen.

The seven empty cryogenic tankers with a total carrying capacity of more than 100 tonnes of LMO will take nearly 20 to 24 hours to complete the process of filling, weighing and completing safety checks.

The Air Separation Plant (ASP) in RINL comprises a total of five units of oxygen extraction plants.

Of which, three units are of 550 tonnes capacity a day and the rest having 600 tonnes capacity per day. In response to its fight against Covid-19, Indian Railways has geared up to run Oxygen Express to supply oxygen from steel plants to different parts of the country.

The first Roll On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) Oxygen Express reached RINL from Kalamboli Goods Shed in Maharashtra.

After loading LMO, about 15 tonnes of LMO in each tanker, the express will start its journey to Maharashtra from East Coast Railway, according to senior divisional commercial manager of ECoR, Waltair Division AK Tripathi.