“Railways is leaving no stone unturned in the collective fight against COVID-19,” said Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, announcing the arrival of First Oxygen Express to Delhi in a major relief amidst the second wave of COVID19 situation.

An Oxygen Express train transporting four tankers (around 70 tonnes of oxygen) reached Delhi from Raigarh today early morning, to help ease the supply of oxygen in the National Capital amid a shortage of oxygen supply in the city's hospitals.

Earlier, the Ministry of Railways had informed that "First Oxygen Express for the national capital carrying four tankers with 70 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen will depart tonight for Delhi Cantonment from Jindal Steel Works, Raigarh. It will reach Delhi by Monday night."

“To alleviate the shortage of oxygen to treat COVID-19 patient, the railways’ has outlined plans to transport medical oxygen from Angul, Kalingnagar, Rourkela and Raigarh to Delhi and NCR region,” the Railway Board Chairman, Suneet Sharma said.

So far, the Indian Railways has transported more than 302 tonnes of oxygen to various states pertaining to the increasing demands of LMO for COVID19 patients.

The Railways has informed that each tanker of 'Oxygen Express' can load around 16 tonnes of medical oxygen, given these trains travel at a speed of around 65 kmph.

Railways to run Summer Special trains from Delhi
 
Indian Railways is leaving no stone unturned to serve the nation in the difficult times of the pandemic. 
With Oxygen Express, Railways is ensuring that medical oxygen is available to COVID-19 patients across the country.

Now to facilitate the passengers, Northern Railways (NR) has announced that seven summer special trains will begin service on April 27.

Northern Railways claims that this would make single side trips easier. This comes after NR announced the launch of five special trains between Delhi and Bihar to help with the anticipated increase in passenger traffic.

In order to meet the demand of the passengers, the Indian Railways' Northern wing has announced that it will be running seven "Summer Special" trains from Delhi junction and New Delhi junction.

Guidelines for passengers 
 
-Only passengers having confirmed tickets will be permitted to board this special train.
-Passengers are advised to adhere to all norms, SOPs related to COVID-19 during the boarding, travel, and at the destination.
-Passengers must wear a face mask properly all the time while travelling.
-These trains will be single side trips only.
 
Indian Railways had previously announced three additional special trains from Delhi to Bihar beginning April 21.
Furthermore, Western Railway has agreed to operate two special summer trains between Mumbai Central and Bhagalpur, as well as two special trains between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Raxaul.
 
Railways will continue to operate special trains in response to route demand. It is making every effort to ensure that passengers travel in comfort and without delay.

Indian Railways is also making various efforts to raise awareness of the Covid guidelines and protocols to be followed among railway passengers and the general public.