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Railroad Retirement Information

U.S. R a i l r o a d R e t i r e m e n t B o a r d

844 North Rush Street Chicago, Ill inois 60611-1275

RRB.gov

General information 877-772-5772

 Public Affairs

 Media inquiries: opa@rrb.gov

312-751-4777 

 For Publication

 January 2025

RRB Reports Performance Under Customer Service Plan 

The Railroad Retirement Board’s (RRB) Customer Service Plan promotes quality public service

through its establishment of timeliness standards that dictate how long it should take the RRB to decide 

to pay or deny an application for a railroad retirement annuity or unemployment or sickness benefit. An 

important part of the plan is its pledge to inform the public about how well the agency meets those 

timeliness standards. 

The following questions and answers provide information about the RRB’s performance in meeting 

its standards in the key areas of retirement applications, survivor applications, disability applications and 

payments, and railroad unemployment and sickness benefit applications and claims during fiscal year 

2024 (October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024).

1. What standards did the RRB use in fiscal year 2024 for processing applications for 

railroad retirement annuities, and how well did it meet those standards?

In fiscal year 2024, the RRB had two timeliness standards for processing railroad retirement 

annuities. For railroad retirement annuity applications filed in advance of an applicant’s eligibility date, 

the RRB’s standard was that it would make a decision to pay or deny the application within 35 days of 

the requested annuity beginning date. For applications filed after the eligibility date, the RRB’s standard 

was that it would make a decision within 60 days of the filing date. The RRB’s timeliness goals in fiscal 

year 2024 were 94 percent for both advance filing and non-advance filing applications.

Of the cases processed during fiscal year 2024, the RRB made a decision within 35 days of the 

annuity beginning dates on 98 percent of applicants who filed in advance, with an average processing 

time for these cases of 12.1 days. Of the cases processed during fiscal year 2024, the RRB made a 

decision within 60 days of the filing dates on 98.3 percent of applicants who had not filed in advance, 

with an average processing time of 15.5 days.

2. What standards did the RRB use for processing applications for survivor annuities in fiscal 

year 2024, and how well did it meet those standards?

The timeliness standard in fiscal year 2024 within which the RRB would make a decision to pay, 

deny, or transfer the application to the Social Security Administration for a railroad retirement survivor 

annuity applicant not already receiving benefits as a spouse, was within 60 days of the applicant’s 

annuity beginning date, or the date the application was filed, whichever was later. For an applicant that 

was already receiving a spouse annuity, the RRB’s standard in fiscal year 2024 was within 35 days of 

the first notice of the employee’s death. For an applicant who filed for a lump-sum death benefit, 
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the RRB’s standard in fiscal year 2024 was to make a decision to pay or deny the application within 60 

days of the date the application was filed. The timeliness goal for fiscal year 2024 was 94 percent for 

processing both initial survivor applications and spouse-to-survivor conversions. For processing 

applications for lump-sum death benefits, the goal was 95 percent. 

Of the cases processed during fiscal year 2024, the RRB made a decision within 60 days of the later 

of the annuity beginning date or the date the application was filed in 97.8 percent of the applications for 

an initial survivor annuity. In cases where the survivor was already receiving a spouse annuity, a 

decision was made within 35 days of the first notice of the employee’s death in 99.4 percent of the 

cases. In addition, a decision was made within 60 days of the date the application was filed in 99.4

percent of the applications for a lump-sum death benefit. The combined average processing time for all 

initial survivor applications and spouse-to-survivor conversions was 19.4 days. The average processing 

time for lump-sum death benefit applications was 10.5 days.

3. What standards did the RRB use for processing applications for disability annuities in 

fiscal year 2024, and how well did it meet those standards?

For applications filed for a disability annuity in fiscal year 2024, the RRB’s standard was to make a 

decision to pay or deny a benefit within 100 days of the date the application was filed. If it was 

determined that the applicant was entitled to a disability annuity, the applicant would receive his or her 

first payment within 25 days of the date of the RRB’s decision, or the earliest payment date, whichever 

was later. The agency’s timeliness goals were 70 percent and 91 percent, respectively, for disability 

decisions and disability payments.

During fiscal year 2024, the RRB made a decision on 10.3 percent of those filing for a disability 

annuity within 100 days of the date the application was filed. The average processing time was 444.2 

days. Of those whose applications for a disability annuity were approved, 92.8 percent received their 

first payment within the Customer Service Plan’s time standard. The average processing time was 14

days.

4. What were the standards in fiscal year 2024 for the handling of applications and claims for 

railroad unemployment and sickness benefits, and how well did the RRB meet these standards?

For fiscal year 2024, the RRB’s standard for processing an application for unemployment or 

sickness benefits was that the RRB would release a claim form or a denial letter within 10 days of 

receiving an application. If an applicant filed a claim for subsequent biweekly unemployment or 

sickness benefits, the RRB’s standard was to certify a payment or release a denial letter within 10 days 

of the date the RRB received the claim form. The agency’s goals for processing unemployment and 

sickness applications in fiscal year 2024 were, respectively, 99.5 and 99.3 percent. The payment or 

decision goal for subsequent claims was 98.5 percent.

During fiscal year 2024, 99.5 percent of unemployment benefit applications and 97.3 percent of 

sickness benefit applications processed met the RRB’s standard. Average processing times for 

unemployment and sickness benefit applications were 1.4 and 5 days, respectively. In addition, in fiscal 
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year 2024, 99.9 percent of subsequent claims processed for unemployment and sickness benefits met the 

RRB’s standard. The average processing time for claims was 4.8 days.

5. How well did the RRB meet its standards in fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023?

Fiscal year 2024 performance met or exceeded fiscal year 2023 performance in the areas of 

retirement annuity applications, whether filed in advance or not, initial survivor annuity applications, 

spouse-to-survivor annuity conversions, lump-sum death benefits, disability decisions and payments, 

and unemployment and sickness benefit claims.

Average processing times in fiscal year 2024 equaled or improved fiscal year 2023 processing times 

in the areas of railroad retirement applications not filed in advance, initial survivor annuity applications, 

spouse-to-survivor annuity conversions, and unemployment and sickness benefit claims. For fiscal year 

2024, the agency met or exceeded all of the customer service performance goals it had set for the year, 

except in the area of disability decisions and sickness benefit applications.

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