.

Number of monthly beneficiaries,
September 30, 2005, and 2010 (thousands)

Amount of benefits paid,
fiscal years 2005 and 2010 (millions)

Average monthly amount,
September 30, 2005, and 2010

An estimated four-fifths of all employees recently awarded disability annuities will meet the medical criteria for a disability freeze determination. The standards for freeze determinations follow social security law and are comparable to the criteria for granting total disability. Also, an employee granted a disability freeze may qualify for early Medicare coverage and lower Federal income taxes on his or her annuity.

Of the employees who were awarded regular annuities in fiscal year 2010, nearly 9,700, or 70 percent, last worked for a railroad either in the calendar year their annuity began or in the preceding year. Such retirements are termed “immediate,” while those that occur 2 or more calendar years after the year of last railroad employment are called “deferred.” As a group, immediate retirees represent career railroad employees who worked in the industry until retirement. Awards based on immediate retirement averaged $3,191 per month, compared to $1,650 for the 4,200 awards based on deferred retirement. Immediate retirees averaged 33 years of railroad service, considerably more than the average of 18 years for deferred retirees. Of the year’s awards, 54 percent of normal age retirements were immediate. While 93 percent of all 60/30 retirements were immediate, only 15 percent of the reduced age awards to employees with less than 30 years of service were immediate. Immediate retirements accounted for 71 percent of the year’s disability awards.

The 273,800 retired employees on the rolls as of September 30, 2010, were being paid regular monthly annuities averaging $2,196. The table below presents data by type of annuity for these benefits.

Of the 83,500 disability annuities being paid, 20,400 were for total disability and 63,100 for occupational disability. The two types of disability annuities averaged $1,508 and $2,452, respectively. In fiscal year 2010, nearly $373 million was paid in total disability annuities and $1,888 million in occupational disability annuities.

About 190,600 employees on the rolls at the end of fiscal year 2010 were immediate retirees and their regular annuities averaged $2,560 per month. Annuities of the 83,200 deferred retirees averaged $1,364. Although their average railroad retirement annuity was much lower, a greater proportion of the deferred annuitants also received social security benefits--29 percent compared to 4 percent for the immediate retirees. Moreover, the average social security benefit paid to deferred retirees was higher than that paid to immediate retirees. Combined railroad retirement and social security benefits to deferred retirees who were dual beneficiaries averaged $1,554, while combined benefits to immediate retirees averaged $2,246. The table below presents numbers of beneficiaries and average benefit amounts for employees on the rolls who were receiving social security benefits, and for those who were not, by type of retirement.

Dual benefit status	Total	Type of retirement
		Immediate	Deferred
Receiving social security benefit
Number	31,900	8,100	23,800
Average monthly amount: Railroad retirement (regular) Social security Combined benefit	$645 1,085 1,730	$1,364 882 2,246	$400 1,154 1,554
Not receiving social security benefit
Number	241,800	182,400	59,400
Average monthly amount	$2,401	$2,613	$1,751
Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

Regular employee annuities consist of as many as three components: tier I, tier II, and a vested dual benefit. Reductions for early age retirement are made in all components in cases where the employee retired before full retirement age with less than 30 years of railroad service. The tier I component is based on the employee’s combined railroad and social security covered earnings, and is reduced by the amount of any social security benefit that the employee receives. The gross tier I amounts of employees on the rolls at the end of fiscal year 2010 averaged $1,710 per month. Tier I amounts of nearly 7,700 employees were completely offset by social security benefits. Tier I amounts being paid averaged $1,563.

The employee tier II component is based solely on railroad earnings. Tier II amounts being paid at the end of fiscal year 2010 averaged $679. Employees are eligible for vested dual benefits if, based on their own earnings, they met certain vesting requirements and qualified for both railroad retirement and social security benefits at the end of 1974, or, in some cases, at the end of an earlier year of last railroad service. About 29,000 retirees were receiving vested dual benefits averaging $162 at the end of the fiscal year.

Supplemental employee annuities

A supplemental annuity is payable to employees with a current connection with the rail industry at age 60 if the employee has at least 30 years of service, or at age 65 if the employee has 25-29 years of service. The employee must also have had some rail service before October 1981.

Some 7,300 supplemental annuities were awarded in fiscal year 2010, about 300 more than in fiscal year 2009. Approximately 5,600 of the awards (76 percent) began concurrently with the employee’s regular annuity, while the remaining 1,700 were to employees already receiving a regular annuity. Supplemental annuity awards averaged over $41 per month after court-ordered partitions; 86 percent were at the current maximum rate of $43. Supplemental annuities are reduced for any part of a private railroad pension attributable to employer contributions. During the fiscal year, 2,100 supplemental annuities were not awarded because they were entirely offset by private pensions. In a few cases, the supplemental annuity was partially offset by the pension, or the supplemental annuity was not offset because the pension was reduced.

Supplemental annuities were being paid to almost 121,200, or 44 percent, of the retired employees on the rolls at the end of the 2010 fiscal year. These annuities averaged $42 after court-ordered partitions; over 100 of them were paid under 1937 Act amendments, which stipulated a maximum rate of $70.

Spouse and divorced spouse annuities

Annuity awards to spouses and divorced spouses of retired employees numbered 11,300 in fiscal year 2010, 300 more than in the previous year. The table below presents numbers and average amounts of spouse and divorced spouse annuities awarded during the year and being paid at the end of the year, by type of annuity and whether subject to age reduction.

If an employee is at least age 62 and retires with 10-29 years of railroad service, or has 5-9 years of service and at least 5 years were after 1995, the employee’s spouse is eligible for an annuity at age 62. Full retirement age for a spouse is gradually rising from 65 to 67, depending on the year of birth. Early retirement reductions are applied to the spouse annuity if the spouse retires before full retirement age. The reduction for early retirement is 1/144 for each of the first 36 months the spouse is under full retirement age when her or his annuity begins and 1/240 for each month (if any) over 36.

If an employee retires with at least 30 years of service and is at least age 60, the employee’s spouse is eligible for an annuity at age 60. Prior to 2002, certain early retirement reductions were applied to the tier I component of such a spouse annuity if the employee retired before age 62, unless the employee attained age 60 and completed 30 years of service prior to July 1, 1984. If a 30-year employee retired at age 62, no age reduction applied to the spouse annuity. December 2001 legislation liberalized early retirement benefits for 30-year employees retiring at ages 60 or 61 after 2001 and their spouses. A spouse of an employee qualified for an age and service annuity is eligible for a spouse annuity at any age if caring for the employee’s unmarried child, and the child is under age 18 or the child became disabled before age 22.

Of the 3,100 reduced spouse annuities awarded in fiscal year 2010, 100 averaging $691 per month were to spouses of 30-year employees and some 3,000 averaging $456 were to spouses of employees with less than 30 years of service.

At the end of fiscal year 2010, more than 133,200 spouse annuities averaging $826 per month were being paid. Nearly 3,900 divorced spouse annuities averaging $504 per month were also being paid. These included some 50 averaging $547, where the employee was not yet entitled to an annuity. Families with an employee and spouse on the rolls were paid combined railroad retirement benefits averaging $3,155. This included $2,329 in regular and supplemental employee annuities and $826 in spouse annuities.

Approximately 52,300, or 38 percent, of the spouses and divorced spouses on the rolls were also receiving social security benefits. Combined railroad retirement and social security benefits to these annuitants averaged $1,239 per month, including $317 in railroad retirement benefits and $922 in social security benefits. Railroad retirement annuities to the 82,600 spouses not receiving social security benefits averaged $1,138, while railroad retirement annuities to the 2,200 divorced spouses not receiving social security benefits averaged $686.

Like regular employee annuities, spouse annuities consist of up to three components. The tier I component equals one-half of the employee’s tier I amount before any reduction for the employee’s social security benefit. The spouse tier I amount is reduced for the spouse’s receipt of a social security benefit and may be reduced for a spouse’s public service pension. The tier I portion may also be reduced if the spouse receives a railroad retirement employee annuity, but this reduction is usually restored through an addition to the spouse tier II amount. Divorced spouses receive only a tier I benefit.

The spouse tier II component equals 45 percent of the employee’s tier II amount. Railroad retirement amendments in 1981 precluded further awards of vested dual benefits to spouses.

Of the 133,200 spouses on the rolls at the end of fiscal year 2010, 91,500 were being paid tier I amounts averaging $728 per month. The tier I amounts of 41,800 spouses were completely offset by other benefits also due. Spouse tier II amounts averaged $355. Vested dual benefits averaging $142 were being paid to 300 spouses. The 3,900 divorced spouses on the rolls at the end of fiscal year 2010 were being paid tier I amounts averaging $525 per month, not reflecting all annuity adjustments.

Lump-sum retirement benefits

A lump-sum benefit may be payable at retirement to employees who received separation or severance payments after 1984. This benefit approximates the tier II payroll taxes deducted from separation or severance payments that did not yield additional service credits for retirement. Some $0.5 million was paid in separation/severance lump-sum benefits during fiscal year 2010.

Employees who have at least 10 years of railroad service and are not entitled to a vested dual benefit may be eligible for a dual retirement tax refund if they had concurrent railroad retirement and social security earnings within the period 1951-74. The refund is equal to the social security taxes that the employee paid on the combined railroad and social security earnings in excess of the annual railroad retirement creditable earnings maximum. During the 2010 fiscal year, the RRB paid about 1,300 dual retirement tax refunds averaging $81. Most of the payments were to employees retiring during the year. Less than 50 refunds were to survivors, mostly widows, of employees who died before receiving the refund. Employees entitled to dual retirement tax refunds for years after 1974 may claim them on their Federal income tax returns.

Survivor

Monthly benefits

Annuity awards to survivors of deceased railroad employees numbered 7,700 during fiscal year 2010, 100 less than the previous year. About 143,900 survivor annuities were being paid at the end of the fiscal year, including 300 temporarily paid at spouse or divorced spouse annuity rates pending recomputation to widow(er)s’ rates. Some 114,900, or 80 percent, of the survivor annuities were to aged widows and widowers.

The table below presents numbers and average monthly amounts of survivor annuities, by type, for those awarded in the year and those being paid at the end of the year.

Survivor annuities, like regular employee and spouse annuities, consist of as many as three components: tier I, tier II and, for widows and widowers only, a vested dual benefit. As with spouses, legislation in 1981 precluded new awards of vested dual benefits to widow(er)s. The tier I component is computed according to social security formulas and is based on the deceased employee’s combined railroad and social security earnings. A reduction is made for the survivor’s receipt of a social security benefit. There may also be a tier I reduction if the survivor receives a railroad retirement employee annuity or public pension. Remarried and divorced widow(er)s receive a tier I benefit only. A dependent parent receives only a tier I amount if another family member is also receiving benefits or if the parent has remarried.

Survivor tier II amounts are figured as a percentage of an employee tier II benefit. Prior to 2002, the percentages were 50 percent for a widow(er), 15 percent for a child, and 35 percent for a parent. The total tier II amount for a survivor family was subject to a minimum of 35 percent and a maximum of 80 percent of the employee tier II benefit, and all survivor tier II amounts were proportionately adjusted when either limit applied. December 2001 legislation established an “initial minimum amount” for widow(er)s which provides a tier II benefit equal to 100 percent of the tier II amount of the deceased employee. The maximum tier II amount payable to a family rose to 130 percent of the employee’s tier II amount. Widows and widowers are guaranteed a total tier I and tier II amount not less than what they were paid as a spouse, any necessary increase being added to tier II.

Aged widow(er)s, who are eligible for benefits at age 60, have their tier I and tier II amounts reduced if the annuity begins before full retirement age. The eligibility age for unreduced annuities is gradually rising from age 65 to age 67. The maximum age reductions range from 17.1 percent to 20.36 percent, depending on the widow(er)’s date of birth. Excluding about 300 annuities temporarily paid at spouse or divorced spouse rates, aged widow(er)s’ annuities being paid at the end of the 2010 fiscal year included 54,400 which were reduced for age. Aged widow(er)s’ tier I amounts being paid averaged $1,121 per month. In almost 7,700 cases, the tier I amount was wholly offset by reductions for other benefits. Nearly 37,900 aged widow(er)s were also receiving social security benefits, and these averaged $855. Tier II amounts averaged $284. More than 1,200 vested dual benefits averaging $69 were being paid to aged widow(er)s.

The tier I and tier II amounts of disabled widow(er)s’ annuities, which begin at ages 50-59, are reduced 28.5 percent for age. Tier I amounts being paid to disabled widow(er)s on the rolls at the end of fiscal year 2010 averaged $931 (in about 200 cases, the tier I amount was wholly offset by reductions). Social security benefits being paid to more than 1,400 disabled widow(er)s averaged $812. Tier II amounts averaged $218, while the 100 vested dual benefits being paid averaged $85.

Tier I amounts paid to widowed mothers and fathers (widows and widowers caring for children) generally equal 75 percent of the full amount payable to an aged widow(er) before any reductions, similar to a social security mother’s or father’s benefit. Eligible children and grandchildren are paid this same tier I amount. However, if the sum of the tier I amounts of all members of a survivor family exceeds the social security family maximum, then tier I amounts are proportionately reduced so that the total equals the maximum. Reductions for the family maximum usually occur when the family includes three or more beneficiaries. Tier I amounts being paid as of the end of fiscal year 2010 averaged $1,210 for widowed mothers and fathers and $865 for children. Fewer than 50 mothers (fathers) and some 2,300 children received social security benefits averaging $1,018 and $564, respectively. Tier II amounts paid mothers (fathers) and children averaged, respectively, $461 and $99.

Lump-sum survivor benefits

A lump-sum death benefit can be payable at the time of an employee’s death only if there are no survivors immediately eligible for monthly benefits. For survivors of employees who had at least 10 years of railroad service before 1975, the lump-sum death benefit is based on the employee’s earnings through 1974, with a maximum amount of approximately $1,200. If the employee completed the 10th year of service after 1974, the lump-sum death benefit is limited to $255, the maximum benefit payable under social security law, and only the widow or widower living in the same household is eligible for the benefit. Lump-sum benefits may also be payable to survivors of employees with less than 10 years of service, but at least 5 years after 1995, if the employee met the social security insured status requirements.  More than 3,700 lump-sum death benefits averaging $915 were awarded during fiscal year 2010.  Approximately 500 benefits were to widow(er)s, while 3,300 were to other individuals who paid the funeral expenses.

Another lump-sum survivor benefit, the residual payment, can be made if no other benefits based at least in part on an employee’s railroad service will be payable in the future, and the total of prior benefit payments is less than what the employee paid in pre-1975 railroad retirement taxes. Fewer than 50 residual payments were awarded in the 2010 fiscal year; they averaged $2,133.

Partition Payments

The Pension Protection Act of 2006, as amended, continues the court-ordered partitioned portion of the tier II, vested dual and supplemental benefit payments to former spouses after the death of the employee. It also allows for payment of court-ordered partitioned payments where the employee is not entitled to an annuity if (1) the employee has 120 months of railroad service or 60 months of service after 1995, and (2) both the employee and spouse or divorced spouse are 62 for a full month, or, if the employee is deceased, the employee would be 62 for a full month.

At the end of fiscal year 2010, there were some 700 spouses and divorced spouses receiving payments averaging $287 where the employee was deceased or not otherwise entitled to an annuity. While all but one received a partitioned tier II benefit, only 9 percent received a partitioned vested dual benefit and 35 percent received a partitioned supplemental benefit.

Medicare Enrollments

The Medicare program provides health insurance to persons ages 65 and older, as well as persons under age 65 who have been entitled to monthly benefits based on total disability for at least 24 months or who suffer from chronic kidney disease requiring hemodialysis or transplant. In addition to the basic hospital insurance, or Part A, plan, which is financed through payroll taxes, there is an elective supplementary medical insurance, or Part B, plan for which monthly premiums are charged.

Eligible railroad retirement annuitants and social security beneficiaries whose benefits are payable by the Railroad Retirement Board are automatically enrolled under both plans, but Part B may be declined by the annuitant or beneficiary. Eligible nonretired persons must apply in order to obtain Medicare coverage. The RRB automatically enrolled almost 22,800 beneficiaries for Medicare during fiscal year 2010. As of the end of the fiscal year, nearly 476,200 persons were enrolled in the Part A plan, and about 458,800 (96 percent) of them were also enrolled in Part B.

Except for benefits for services in Canada, which are paid from the Railroad Retirement Account, railroad enrollees are paid Part A benefits from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the same as persons covered under the social security system. Part B benefits are paid from the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Funds. The carrier for Part B claims of railroad Medicare enrollees made payments totaling $870 million in the 2010 fiscal year.

The regular monthly premium for medical insurance during fiscal year 2010 was $96.40 for coverage through December 2009 and $110.50 thereafter.. However, due to the "hold-harmless" provision related to no cost-of-living increase effective December 2009, most beneficiaries who had premiums withheld prior to January 2010 continued to pay a $96.40 premium in calendar year 2010.  Beneficiaries with modified adjusted gross incomes above certain thresholds pay higher Part B premiums.  The RRB generally withholds Medicare premiums for annuitants from their benefit payments, and at the end of the fiscal year over 435,200 annuitants were having their premiums withheld.  Of the remaining Part B enrollees, more than 2,200 were paying premiums to the RRB, either directly or through an intermediary, and 21,300 had their premiums paid by State agencies.  The RRB periodically transfers premiums to the SMI Trust Funds.

Railroad Unemployment and Sickness
Insurance Program

Financial Operations

Financing sources for the railroad unemployment and sickness insurance program during fiscal year 2010 exceeded costs by $101.1 million and the net position increased by $101.1 million from $46.4 million at the end of fiscal year 2009 to $147.5 million at the end of fiscal year 2010. For fiscal year 2010 as compared to fiscal year 2009, total financing sources for the railroad unemployment and sickness insurance program increased by $158.4 million (156.8 percent) to $259.4 million.

Railroad Unemployment and Sickness Insurance Program

Consolidated Financing Sources, Costs and Net Position (Millions)1
For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30	2010	2009
Financing Sources: Employer Payroll Taxes Interest Income   General Appropriations Other Total Financing Sources Costs: Benefit Payments: Unemployment Sickness Other4: Total Costs Financing Sources over Costs Net Position - Beginning of Period Net Position - End of Period	$98.4 1.5 2175.8 (16.3) 259.4 104.5 52.1 1.7 158.3 101.1 46.4 $147.5	$92.9 4.2 320.1 (16.2) 101.0 116.4 48.1 ... 164.5 (63.5) 109.9 $46.4

Costs - Fiscal Year 2010 (In Millions)

Financing Sources

The primary ongoing financing source of the railroad unemployment and sickness insurance program is a payroll tax on railroad employers, based on the taxable earnings of their employees. The employees themselves are not taxed.

Each employer pays taxes at a rate which takes into consideration its employees’ actual incidence of benefit usage. Under experience rating, employers whose employees have low incidences of unemployment and sickness pay taxes at a lower rate than those with higher levels of benefit usage. Each employer’s rate also has a component for administrative expenses and a component to cover costs shared by all employers. The rate applies to monthly earnings up to an indexed maximum. In calendar year 2010, the taxable earnings base was the first $1,330 of each employee’s monthly earnings. The earnings base is indexed each year by a rate which is equal to approximately two-thirds of the annual rate of increase in the maximum base for railroad retirement tier I taxes.

In 2010, the basic tax rates on railroad employers, including covered commuter railroads, ranged from a minimum of 2.15 percent (which included a surcharge of 1.5 percent) to a maximum of 12 percent. Most employers were assessed the minimum rate in 2010. New employers in 2010 paid an initial rate of 2.51 percent.

Employer Payroll Taxes

Payroll taxes by employers totaled $98.4 million during fiscal year 2010. This was an increase of 5.9 percent or $5.5 million more than the previous year.

Interest

Cash not needed immediately for unemployment and sickness insurance benefits or operating expenses is held in the Federal Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and invested by the Secretary of the Treasury. The fund earned an average rate of return of 4.2 percent in fiscal year 2010, of which the Railroad Retirement Board earned $1.5 million as its pro rata share.

Costs

Total costs for the railroad unemployment and sickness insurance program decreased by $6.2 million (3.8 percent) to $158.3 million.

Benefit Payments

During fiscal year 2010, unemployment insurance benefit payments decreased by $11.9 million (10.2 percent) to $104.5 million. Sickness insurance benefit payments increased $4.0 million (8.3 percent) to $52.1 million.

Benefit Operations

Net unemployment and sickness benefits totaling $190.5 million were paid in the 2009-2010 benefit year, $67.6 million more than in the prior year. Beneficiaries numbered 41,200, in comparison to the previous year’s total of some 37,600. Over 1,400 employees received both unemployment and sickness benefits during the 2009-2010 benefit year. The number of unemployment benefit claimants increased by more than 16 percent, while sickness benefit claimants increased approximately 1 percent. Total unemployment benefit payments increased by about 78 percent, while net sickness benefits increased by almost 16 percent. The substantial increases in unemployment benefits and beneficiaries can be attributed to a national economic recession. The number of employees qualified for benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act fell more than 1 percent to 252,300.

Benefits are payable for each day of unemployment or sickness in excess of 7 during the first 14-day registration period in a benefit year. During benefit year 2009-2010, there were 16,000 and 14,300 unemployment and sickness benefit waiting period claims, respectively.

Unemployment

The effect of the national economic decline on the railroad industry is apparent by the large increases in unemployment benefits and beneficiaries. Some 24,800 railroad workers were paid $138.2 million in unemployment benefits during the 2009-2010 benefit year, including $26.8 million in temporary extended benefits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (WHBAA). The number of benefit claimants increased by 3,500 from the prior year total of 21,400, while the benefit amount rose $60.4 million from the year-earlier total of $77.8 million. The claimant count increased for the third straight year. The average number of compensable days per unemployment benefit claimant was 90 in benefit year 2009-2010 as compared to 63 in the previous benefit year.  The large increase reflected not only the national recession, but the availability since June 2009 of temporary extended unemployment benefits under ARRA and WHBAA.

The mid-month unemployment count in the 2009-2010 benefit year began with a July count of 11,100 claimants. The count sporadically dropped and rose in the following months until it peaked at 12,200 in January 2010 due to claims under WHBAA. After January 2010, the count dropped during the following months until reaching a benefit year low of 4,000 in June 2010.  For the 2009-2010 benefit year as a whole, the weekly number of claimants averaged 9,000 in comparison to an average of 6,100 in the previous benefit year.  The overall unemployment benefit claimant rate, measured in relation to numbers of employees qualified to receive benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act during a particular time period, increased to 10 per 100 qualified from the previous year's level of 8 per 100 qualified, continuing to reflect the impact of the national economic recession.  The median age for all unemployment benefit claimants was 38 years, the same as in the previous benefit year.

Sickness

The number of sickness benefit claimants during the 2009-2010 benefit year was 17,800, about 200 higher than in the previous year. The previous year claimant count was the lowest since sickness benefits began in benefit year 1947-1948. Gross sickness benefits of $77.0 million were paid, $5.3 million more than in the prior benefit year. Net sickness benefits totaled $52.4 million, reflecting repayment of a large amount of benefits following settlements of suits for injuries. Benefits payable for an injury are recoverable if the claimant is awarded damages or receives a settlement for the injury. Net benefits increased by $7.2 million in comparison with the previous year.

Major unemployment and sickness benefit operations,
benefit years 2009-2010 and 2008-2009

The utilization rate for sickness benefits increased for the first time in six years. The previous year was at a historically low level.  The average duration of sickness increased for the second consecutive benefit year

Among the most common causes of sickness were injuries that included fractures or wounds (affecting 26 percent of beneficiaries), arthritis and disk disorders (22 percent), circulatory and heart disease (8 percent), and mental disorders, including drug and alcohol addictions (11percent). The median age of all sickness benefit claimants was 52 years; the same as in the previous benefit year.

Claimants under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act,
Benefit Years 2005-2006 through 2009-2010

Unemployment and Sickness Benefit Claimants By Age,
Benefit Year 2009-2010

Railroad Employment

Average monthly railroad employment in fiscal year 2010 fell about 4 percent to 219,000 from the 227,000 average of the previous year, as the nationwide recession continued to severely affect the railroad industry throughout calendar year 2009. After experiencing an all-time low of 214,000 in January 2010, railroad employment began to rebound, increasing in all but two months after January 2010.  By September 2010 railroad employment had risen to 224,000.

Employment in the railroad industry was affected by an increase in rail traffic, which can be attributed to declines in industrial production. Although freight-ton-miles in the October-December 2009 quarter were 8 percent lower than in the same quarter of 2008, freight-ton-miles in the April-June 2010 quarter were almost 15 percent higher than in the same quarter of the previous year.  Overall, fiscal year 2010 railroad freight-ton-miles were 4 percent higher than the previous year.
 

Average Railroad Employment
Fiscal Years 2006 through 2010