Rlys set up 4K Covid care coaches with a capacity of 64K beds

Kolkata: The Ministry of Railways is swiftly meeting the state governments' demand for creating the facility of Covid care coaches during the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic with its fleet of 4000 coaches (retrofitted as isolation units) with a capacity of 64,000 beds.

"As per currently available data, these facilities are seeing a steady intake registering a cumulative admission of 81 Covid patients and their subsequent discharge of 22 patients. None of the facilities have registered any casualties," said an official.

In Delhi, the Railway has catered to the full demand of State Governments' demand for 75 Covid Care coaches with a capacity of 1200 beds. 50 coaches are positioned at Shakurbasti and 25 coaches at Anand Vihar stations. Presently, five patients were admitted at Shakurbasti and one patient discharged.

In Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), the Railway has deployed 20 Isolation Coaches with a capacity of 292 beds. Three patients were admitted and are presently utilising the facility.

In Nandrubar (Maharashtra), 24 Isolation Coaches with a capacity of 292 beds have been deployed. This facility has registered 73 admissions till date. The Unit has 326 beds still available for Covid patients.

In Uttar Pradesh, though coaches have not yet been requisitioned by the state government, 10 coaches each are placed at Faizabad, Bhadohi, Varanasi, Bareli and Nazibabad totalling to a capacity of 800 beds (50 coaches).

Indian Railways has transported more than 302 MT of Oxygen safely & securely to various states across India. Another 154 MT liquid medical oxygen is on its way. One Oxygen Express train carrying four tankers was expected to reach Delhi from Raigarh (Chhattisgarh) on Monday.

For the residents of Maharashtra, a train carrying 44 MT (in three tankers) reached Kalamboli (near Mumbai) from Hapa (Rajkot, Gujarat) on Monday.

Another Oxygen Express is on the run from Bokaro (Jharkhand) to Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) carrying 90 MT of LMO (in 5 tankers) and is expected to reach Lucknow by Tuesday early morning.

Meanwhile, Eastern Railway has decided to run a fully reserved Summer Special train between Howrah and Ajmer on April 27 and April 28.

The 02983 Ajmer – Howrah Summer Special will leave Ajmer at 09:20 am on Tuesday and reach Howrah at 1:05 pm on Wednesday.

02984 Howrah - Ajmer Summer Special will leave Howrah station at 5:10 pm Wednesday and reach Ajmer at 9:40 pm on Thursday.