India ? A speeding express train collided with a passenger train at a station in eastern India early today, mangling the carriages and killing at least 56 people, railway police said.

The crash happened about 2 a.m. when the Uttarbanga Express slammed into the stationary Bananchal Express as it left the platform at Sainthia station, about 125 miles north of Calcutta.

The collision destroyed two passenger cars and a luggage car, turning them into a tangle of twisted metal. The passenger cars were reserved for those on the cheapest tickets and such carriages are usually packed to capacity.