Cops are working to establish the cause of the crash, but it is understood the bus had stopped on the crossing after its engine stalled. The horror collision happened near Pokrov station in Russia’s Vladimir region, east of Moscow.
Rita Shlyakhtina, the regional governor's press secretary said: “People inside the bus were sleeping, there were 50 of them.
“The driver shouted and 34 people ran out of the bus to push it. They survived. "Those who remained on the bus died. “It got literally torn apart.”
News agency Sputnik reported that five people were rushed to hospital and that four are in a critical condition – including two children.
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The passengers are believed to have been from Uzbekistan and the two drivers from Kazakhstan, two central Asian countries bordering Russia.
One of the Kazakh drivers died, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Anuar Zhainakov said.
At least 15 of the dead are thought to be Uzbeks.
Mr Zhainakov said: "According to the latest information, during the road accident in Russia's Vladimir region, there were 55 citizens of Uzbekistan and two drivers, citizens of Kazakhstan, in the passenger bus."
Authorities said the bus drove through a red light to get onto the tracks.
A spokesman for the Moscow railway authority said: "Tonight, at 3.40am a bus was passing a railway crossing near the Pokrov station when the engine stalled."
In April 50 people were injured when a train crashed after it derailed between Moscow and Breast.
