At least 12 people were killed and more than 45 others injured in a collision between two speeding trains in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh late Tuesday night, a senior police official said Wednesday.

"The mishap happened around 11 p.m. (local time) at Nandanagar railway crossing near Gorakhpur town, some 270 kms from state capital Lucknow, when Krishak Express, traveling from Varanasi to Gorakhpur, rammed into Barauni Express from behind," the official said, on condition of anonymity.

The impact of the collision was so high that three coaches of the Barauni Express went off the track, he said.

"While 12 bodies have been pulled out of the mangled coaches, those injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital where the condition of some are said to be serious. The death toll is likely to go up later in the day," the official said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has suspended the drivers of the Krishak Express and ordered a probe into the incident.

"The railways has suspended the drivers of Krishak Express for overshooting the signal," Indian Railways spokesperson Anil Saxena told the media.

The Railways has announced a compensation of 50,000 rupees (1, 000 US dollars) to the families of those killed and 25,000 rupees for those seriously injured in the accident.

Indian Railways is one of the world's largest railway network, criss-crossing the country from north to south. It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 23 million passengers every day.

However it's safety record is poor.

In July, nearly 18 children were killed along with their driver when a school bus was hit by a train in the southern state of Telangana. And in May, over 20 people were killed when a passenger train derailed and hit a stationary goods train in Uttar Pradesh.