Railways handed over 169 COVID care coaches to different States

NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways has handed over 169 train coaches to various states for COVID care.

In the united fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Railways has developed nearly 4,000 COVID care coaches with almost 64,000 beds ready for use by the states.

In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said, "New demand for COVID coaches has come from Nagpur district. In this direction, an MoU has been signed between the divisional railway manager, Nagpur, and the commissioner of Nagpur Municipal Corporation."

Accordingly, the Railways will deploy a COVID care rake with 11 coaches comprising modified sleepers with a capacity to accommodate 16 patients in each coach.

The coaches will be equipped with the necessary medical infrastructure by the state health authorities with Railways devising the segmentation of space and utility for medical personnel in line with the MoU, besides taking care of sanitation and catering arrangements. The Railways will also mobilise COVID care coaches for Nagpur, Bhopal, Ajni ICD (Nagpur), and Tihi (near Indore) as per the states' demand.

Besides these new areas of Maharashtra, these coaches are positioned at the nine other major stations in the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

At Nandrubar (Maharashtra), 57 patients are currently utilising the facility, while 322 beds are still available.

In Delhi, the Railways has catered to the full demand of the government for 75 COVID care coaches with a capacity of 1,200 beds. Fifty coaches are positioned at Shakurbasti and 25 coaches at Anand Vihar.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Ratlam division of Western Railway has deployed 20 coaches with a capacity of 320 beds at Tihi station near Indore.

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

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