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My guess: train operators are probably a much lower percentage of the total cost of running a train than drivers are for trucks or cabs, removing the incentive for automation.

They are. It simply doesn't make sense to automate them away considering the amount of liability contained within a freight train traveling at high speeds down a rail corridor.

I guess the train driver is an small percentage oft the cost of running a train compared to the cost of a truck driver.

Automated trains have existed for many years, outside the US. They are still not common though, other than in airports.

I think this disaster has something to do with the hold-up on train regulations: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disas...