Railway station in Delhi transformed into medical facility to treat COVID-19 patients

For the first time in the country, two railway stations in national capital- Anand Vihar and Shakur Basti- are being transformed as medical facility to treat COVID-19 patients as national capital witnesses surge in cases.

The Indian Railways, in association with Delhi Government, has decided to deploy isolation coaches at Anand Vihar Railway Station and Shakur Basti Railway Station, said a railway official.

The Indian Railways on Monday suspended all train operations from busy Anand Vihar Railway Station in East Delhi and all 5 special tabled trains operation from the staton shifted to Old Delhi Railway Station. The station has seven platforms and 170 to 180 isolation coaches will be deployed by Tuesday evening, said an official in the railways.

The Railways already deployed 54 such coaches, comprising 800 beds at Shakur Basti station in Delhi.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who chaired a meeting to review the situation in Delhi on Sunday, said that 500 railway isolation coaches will be deployed in Delhi for treatment.

The Delhi Government and Indian Railways together will decide the number of coaches to be deployed at different railway station, Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said.

As per Union Health Ministry guidelines, once coaches deployed to the states, it will be under the control of state chief medical officer and it will be used for cases that can be categorised into “mild” or “very mild”. Each coaches will be attached to nearest COVID-19 hospital and serious patients will be shifted to hospital.

Each coach has a capacity to accomodate 16 patients. Since all isolation coaches are Non-AC, the railways will provide roof inslulation to coaches in areas where temperature is very high, Yadav said.

The COVID-19 cases are rising in Delhi as the state government scrambling to mobilise hospital beds to treat patients.

Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases

The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi is the third-highest in the country after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

The Railways has already received demand for more than 325 isolation coaches in four states so far including Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Railway converted 5231 non AC sleeper and general coaches as COVID-19 coaches to suppliment hospital isloation beds. The railways also identified 215 major stations across the country for its deployment and asked the states to utilise it to treat mild and very mild COVID-19 patients.

Since no states have come forward to utilise it, the Railway Board has decided to convert around 3,100 coaches as normal and deploy it for Shramik Special trains as there is huge demand for non-AC coaches. However, around 2,131 coaches will remain as isolation coaches and will be given to states as and when they demand, said an official in the railways.