The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the railroad industry a C+ in its most recent report card on U.S. infrastructure, which Bennett said is largely due to the investments the big four railroads are making in their infrastructure.

In fact, Bennett said, railroad infrastructure is generally better funded than highways.

"One of the good things about the railroad, they have a business model that actually works -- they’re able to extract enough profits from operations to invest in infrastructure,” he said. “As opposed to highways … The highway bridge systems are much more perilous in terms of getting funding.”

“It’s certainly in our best interest to prevent accidents and keep our infrastructure sound,” McBeth said. “That’s why you see record investments in infrastructure.”

Industry experts say safety is in the railroads’ best interest.

“They can make more money by being able to move more trains faster rather than (by) deferring maintenance,” said Douma, the University of Minnesota transportation scholar. “If something blows up along the Mississippi, that basically cuts off BNSF from the rest of the country. That’s not going to do them very well.”