Local train services between Ranaghat and Sealdah under the Sealdah North section of Eastern Railway were disrupted for about an hour when a Sealdah-bound Santipur local hit a Maruti van near a level-crossing at Mansapota area close to Shimurali rail station in Nadia on Friday afternoon.

GRP and local sources said a youth was learning to drive on the stretch being prepared to lay new railway tracks adjacent to the existing ones. The youth lost control of the vehicle and drove the car onto the track on which the Sealdah-bound train was approaching.

Some local residents witnessed the car driving onto the track and rushed to alert the train driver, who applied emergency brakes but despite coming to a screeching halt hit the van unleashing panic among the passengers.

The youth, who was driving the van, managed to come out of the vehicle and fled from the spot. Local residents dragged the mangled van to clear the track. Train service resumed on the track after about an hour. The GRP has begun a probe into the incident.