20 November 2016 08:58 am
The incident took place on the Indore-Patna Express just after 03:00 local time on Sunday (21:30 GMT Saturday) near the city of Kanpur.
The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue to work through the wrecked carriages.
More than 100 people have been reported injured.
It was not immediately clear what caused the coaches to derail.
Krishna Keshav, who was travelling in the train, told the BBC: "We woke with a jolt at around 3am. Several coaches were derailed, everybody was in shock. I saw several bodies and injured people."
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families.
"Prayers with those injured in the tragic train accident."