Despite a recent string of train accidents, including the head-on collision of two passenger trains in Switzerland today, rail travel is almost exactly as safe as commercial air travel.
Based on numbers from the European Railway Agency's most recent safety report, for every billion kilometers traveled between 2008 and 2010, .101 airline passengers were killed. The number for train passengers was very slightly higher: .156.
As the numbers show, cars in the European Union are nearly 30 times more deadly than trains. Powered two-wheelers (including mopeds and motorcycles) are by far the most dangerous mode of transport considered:
Here's a breakdown of train crash causes: