The equation here is more like “I can increase margins 3% this quarter to get my bonus, but increase the risk of an incident that may harm or result in the death of an employee or disaster affecting the public by 15%”
The long game is that the railroad will lose money when they create a 9-figure incident. The short game is the management makes their money.
I suppose you don’t live near one of these lines or have to worry about some terrible accident or even a town-destroying explosion. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disas...)
My uncle worked for one of the large railroads for 32 years. He retired last year, along with every eligible employee in his division. The workplace injury rates in that division had climbed to the point that it didn’t make sense to do the job and risk death or serious injury.
Even if they do (and this is a BIG if when we see how many companies get bailed out of their bad decisions) they still have caused a 9 figure incident. Which could be a chemical spill or any number of other things that could cause serious environmental damage to the local communities. A fine that results in the destruction of the company is great and all, but they've still made the planet markedly worse through their negligence.