A sizeable percentage of "accidents" are from idiot drivers driving around crossing gates that are down to protect them from the oncoming train, or just driving across the track ahead of the train for a thrill or because they are insane (maybe they think the train will stop) or they have their stereo turned up so high they can't hear the train 100 feet away, and they don't bother to look. Train vs. train accidents are extremely unusual, at least in the U.S.. Sometimes there are real, serious weather problems: tracks washed out (So. Calif.), or a boulder washed onto the tracks (West of Denver) or snowed in (the Sierras) or signaling equipment destroyed and trees down across the tracks (last summer's hurricanes). If you consider how many thousand car accidents there are in the U.S. every day, the truth is that the most dangerous part of your trip for air or rail really is the drive from your house to the rail station or airport, or the part of your trip after you get off of the airplane or train at the other end. Those are the parts of the trip to worry about.
