Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)

The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an independent federal agency that administers the retirement, survivor, disability, unemployment, and sickness benefit programs for the nation's railroad workers and their families. It operates the railroad retirement system, a separate national program for railroad employees that exists alongside, and is coordinated with, the Social Security system.

The railroad retirement system dates to the 1930s, when Congress established a federal retirement program specifically for railroad workers. The RRB administers benefits funded through payroll taxes paid by railroad employers and employees, and it pays monthly retirement and survivor annuities as well as disability benefits to qualifying workers.

In addition to retirement-side benefits, the RRB administers a separate railroad unemployment and sickness insurance program that provides benefits to railroad workers who are out of work or unable to work due to illness or injury.

Because railroad employment and the railroad retirement system are intertwined with the Social Security program, the two systems coordinate so that workers who move between railroad and non-railroad employment receive appropriate credit. Unlike the safety-focused Federal Railroad Administration or the economic-focused Surface Transportation Board, the RRB's mission is the administration of railroad workers' pensions and benefits.

Website: https://www.rrb.gov/