An Oxygen Express train carrying around 30,000 litres of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow this morning as Uttar Pradesh is battling a sudden surge in coronavirus cases, an official said.
The special train carrying two truckloads of medical oxygen arrived in the state capital at 6:30 am from Bokaro, Jharkhand.
"Two trucks of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow at around 6:30 am. One of the trucks was offloaded in Varanasi late on Friday. Each truck is of 15,000 litres capacity," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told news agency Press Trust of India.
He said both the trucks may be used for Lucknow and a decision will be taken soon.
"The arrival of two trucks of medical oxygen will meet around half the demand of Lucknow for today. Lucknow will be in a better position. The second Oxygen Express departed at around 5:30 am from Lucknow for Bokaro with four tankers," Mr Awasthi said.
The railways on Wednesday had said it will run its second Oxygen Express to Uttar Pradesh after a request was received from the state government.
On Sunday, the Railways had announced it will run Oxygen Express over the next few days to transport oxygen across the country.
Under the initiative, empty tankers will be loaded with liquid medical oxygen from Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Frontline Covid Workers, Hospitals In UP Asked To Remain On 'Alert Mode' Focus On Oxygen, Mandatory Test For China Arrivals: India's Covid Steps "Have To Be Alert": UP Chief Minister Strategizes With Officials For Covid Justice DY Chandrachud's Final Message As Chief Justice Of India Elon Musk Replies To 'We Need Your Help Removing Trudeau' Post DY Chandrachud's Last Working Day: What Do Chief Justices Do After Term Ends To Curb Deaths, Tamil Nadu Declares Snakebite A Notifiable Disease With YouTube As Guide, UP Men Printed Rs 500 Notes On Rs 10 Stamp Paper NHIDCL Partners With AICTE To Launch Internship Programme For Students Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.