A hospital train that arrived in Aksu prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, last month is expected to provide free cataract surgeries for around 1,000 local residents during its three-month stop, project organizers have said.

The Lifeline Express program converts trains into mobile hospitals for cataract operations. In the month before the train's arrival on April 10, medical workers from the Second People's Hospital of Aksu Prefecture screened 20,000 residents and identified about 1,200 patients needing surgery.

The train is staffed by the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-Sen University. As of the middle of May, nearly 300 patients had received operations.

Yao Xinjie, a 62-year-old Aksu resident, has experienced blurred vision and daily difficulties since developing cataracts five years ago. He was eager to learn about the medical train's arrival and was among the first to board for surgery.

"The operation, hospital stay and meals were all free of charge. I'm grateful for the project and the doctors' superb skills," he said.

Lifeline Express was first launched in 1997 as a gift to the Chinese mainland from the people of Hong Kong to mark its return to the motherland. To date in Xinjiang, the project has provided surgery free of charge to more than 12,000 people.