Mile for mile, rail travel is much safer than road travel, but it depends crucially on keeping the trains on the tracks — and on keeping those tracks clear and in good repair. Amtrak is not always great at that.

Federal Railroad Administration statistics show that in recent years, Amtrak has had an average of about two derailments a month, accounting for about one-quarter of the accidents it reports. Most derailments happen at low speeds on yard and station tracks, though, and they rarely cause more than minor injuries.

Passenger deaths in train accidents of all kinds have been rarer still; many recent years have seen none at all. When a train causes a fatality, it usually comes in a collision with a motor vehicle or with people on the tracks, a more frequent type of accident.

In 2016, after an Amtrak train struck a backhoe and killed two track maintenance workers in Chester, Pa., the National Transportation Safety Board criticized Amtrak for having a weak safety culture. Robert L. Sumwalt, the board’s chairman, called some of Amtrak’s procedures “clumsy” and said investigators had found that a “culture of fear” pervaded the railroad.