There are two main source of profit in the modern world. The first is exclusivity of market opportunity, through monopoly (including those "partial" monopolies

There are two main source of profit in the modern world. The first is exclusivity of market opportunity, through monopoly (including those "partial" monopolies provided by network effects), copyright, patent, regulatory capture, etc. The second place that profit comes from is in taking on liabilities that either you will not be required to pay, or not be able to pay. Uninsured borrowing doesn't really evoke the kind of evil that is really at play here, but it's an appropriate term. More subtle is when the people making decisions (ie in the c-suite, board) have payoff curves that are substantially different from the company's payoff curve. Risking train derailment strikes me as being in this category. These schemes can be deeply convoluted. The author implies that there is substantial, uninsurable risk to cities that is implicitly taken on by any freight carrier. Holding everything else equal, increasing revenue while increasing the potential damage to a city is a potential source of profit.