Title - Mumbai: 18 fall off crowded local train, 3 dead

Mumbai: It has been a harrowing time for the millions of commuters as the city’s lifeline took a hit because of a fire in a main signal. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told the state assembly that the situation would be resolved by Friday night.
T
he technical snag de-railed the Central Line, and worse, over crowding led to three deaths and at least 15 injuries so far.

The Central Line of the suburban rail network was handicapped by a fire at a signal cabin. It meant that trains which plied were doing so dangerously beyond capacity.

On Thursday morning, three commuters in an overcrowded Kalyan-CST local hit a signal pole and fell to their death. As many as 15 others were injured.
"Overcrowding and leaning out, prima facie there has been no railway violation," said Vidyadhar Malegaonkar, CPRO, Central Railway.
Millions of commuters have been facing a harrowing time for the last 48 hours, days after train services were hit following a fire in the main signal cabin at Kurla.
However, Thursday mishap is not the only one. The city's suburban railway network has the highest passenger density anywhere in the world. There is an estimated 2 per cent annual increase of commuters on the suburban railway network.
Even so, proposals to ease the pressure like the monorail, the metro and the elevated rail corridor have been slow to take off.
"The city’s lifeline is seeing slow strangulation," said urban planner Chandrashekhar Prabhu.
Mumbai’s lifeline is also the cause of maximum deaths in the city. Around 36000 people died on the tracks in the last 10 years. Clearly, safety and decongestion need to be on top priority for the railways.