Tamil Nadu receives first medical oxygen express train from West Bengal

Tamil Nadu on Friday received the first set of medical oxygen for Covid patients- about 80 metric tonnes- through an express train from West Bengal in the wee hours of Friday, officials said.

Southern Railway officials said the train which arrived here from Durgapur on Friday was sent to Tamil Nadu to address the demand for medical oxygen amid the Covid-19 surge in the State.

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Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said the first oxygen express reached Tamil Nadu for Covid-19 patients in Tamil Nadu.

"The first #OxygenExpress has reached Chennai from Durgapur with medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients in Tamil Nadu", Goyal said and shared pictures of the train in his Twitter account on Friday.

Tamil Nadu Medical and Family Welfare Minister M Subramanian, his cabinet colleague Sekar Babu, Health Department Secretary J Radhakrishnan and senior government officials formally received the oxygen express train at Tondiarpet Yard in the wee hours of Friday.

Briefing reporters, Subramanian said Chief Minister M K Stalin was holding talks with the Centre on a daily basis to address the issues arising due to the Covid-19 surge in Tamil Nadu.

"Under one such initiative is the oxygen express train which has arrived from West Bengal today. It has 80 metric tonne of medical oxygen and after unloading, it will be distributed to various districts in the state...," he said.

To a query, the Minister said the 80 metric tonnes would be able to meet the demand for medical oxygen in Tamil Nadu "to an extent" and added some more oxygen express trains were expected to arrive to meet the demand in the coming days.