Thread by @SupriyaShrinate

Since I have been hearing about oxygen train ad nauseam, here’s the truth about Oxygen express and isolation coaches from former a former Railway EDME/ Freight 1/n
#Oxygen

Good optics but not of great practical value as people gasp for oxygen The tankers loaded from LKO to Jharkhand for bringing oxygen are cryogenic tankers that come in different sizes.Smaller tankers that we see on the train are under 10% of all tankers in India 2/n #OxygenCrisis

So despite best efforts the LKO train was run with only 6 tankers which is still very less for a city like Lucknow and also pale in comparison to the effort taken to move a train all the way to Jharkhand and back 3/n #Lucknow

Normal sized tankers are 3860 mm high which means on a Defence Bogey Military Wagon the total height will be 5140 mm, even with partial deflated tyres at best 5050 mm. At this height it will need removal of Overhead Equipment on nearly all electrified sections 4/n #OxygenExpress

A Military wagon which carries military tanks is 1055 mm high but its well length is short so can’t be used for loading oxygen tankers which are much longer

For large quantities we need new wagon designs but no time for it now, should’ve been done in last 1 year 5/n #Oxygen

6 famous tankers on the train were empty from 19 and have reached LKO only today. In these 5 days they could’ve been sent by road and back. With double driver, a practice frequently followed for trucks bringing materials to Integral Coach Factory it wd’ve been quicker 6/n #Oxygen

I support using every available resource. But even now it seems the govt is still busy in optics and headline management? 7/7 #OxygenCrisis @RailMinIndia