Railroad Retirement Board

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an independent agency in the executive branch of the United States government created in 1935 to administer a social insurance program providing retirement benefits to the country's railroad workers.

The RRB serves U.S. railroad workers and their families, and administers retirement, survivor, unemployment, and sickness benefits. Consequently, railroad workers do not participate in the United States Social Security program. The RRB's headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois, with field offices throughout the country.

In connection with the retirement program, the RRB has administrative responsibilities under the Social Security Act for certain benefit payments and railroad workers' Medicare coverage.

During fiscal year 2009, retirement survivor benefits of some $10.5 billion were paid to about 589,000 beneficiaries, while net unemployment-sickness benefits of $160 million, including over $10 million in temporary extended unemployment benefits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, were paid to more than 40,000 claimants.

At the end of fiscal year 2018, the average annuity paid to career rail employees was $3,525 per month, the average annuity paid for all retired rail employees was $2,815 per month, and the average retirement benefit under Social Security was $1,415 per month.

Railroad retirement benefit payments are financed primarily by payroll taxes paid by railroad employers and their employees. Since 2002, funds not needed immediately for benefit payments or administrative expenses have been invested by an independent National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust, which qualifies as non profit 501(c)(28). As of September 30, 2009, Trust-managed assets and RRB assets held in reserve totaled almost $25 billion.

The assignment, furlough, and recall of most railroad employees was based on seniority. When work became scarce, employees with the least seniority were the first to be laid-off. The majority of railroaders were covered by pension plans, but private pension payments could be reduced if revenues were down, and many had been cut drastically by 1934.

This practice created a conflict between older employees, who preferred the certainty of a paycheck to an unreliable pension, and younger employees, who saw opportunity for increased job security if superannuated workers could be induced to retire by guaranteeing them a decent pension.