The ongoing Railways mega block has resulted in three casualties because of overcrowding. Three people fell from the local train and lost their lives yesterday. Unfortunately, this is very familiar to the millions of commuters taking Mumbai’s lifeline to and from work every day.

It is not just mega blocks that result in these disasters. The local train system is a ticking time bomb — the huge rush, the mad scramble to get on the train, peak hour travel where sometimes one is hanging out of the train and holding on to a handle for dear life — these have become so commonplace that Mumbaikars don’t even think of the perils involved in commuting like this.