Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

We are committed under long-term lease agreements for equipment, lines of road, and other property. We combine lease and non-lease components for new and reassessed leases. Some of these agreements are variable lease agreements that include usage-based payments. These agreements contain payment provisions that depend on an index or rate, initially measured using the index or rate at the lease commencement date, and are therefore not included in our future minimum lease payments. Our long-term lease agreements do not contain any material restrictive covenants.

Our equipment leases have remaining terms of less than 1 year to 7 years and our lines of road and land leases have remaining terms of less than 1 year to 134 years. Some of these leases include options to extend the leases for up to 99 years and some include options to terminate the leases within 30 days. Because we are not reasonably certain to exercise these renewal options, the options are not considered in determining the lease term, and associated payments are excluded from future minimum lease payments.

Leases with an initial term of twelve months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet. We recognize lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Operating lease amounts included on the Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows:


		December 31,
		2023		2022
		($ in millions)
	Classification
Assets
Right-of-use (ROU) assets	Other assets	$	390	$	407

Liabilities
Current lease liabilities	Other current liabilities	$	105	$	94
Non-current lease liabilities	Other liabilities	287		316

Total lease liabilities		$	392	$	410

The components of total lease expense, primarily included in “Purchased services and rents,” are as follows:


	2023		2022		2021
	($ in millions)

Operating lease expense	$	115	$	101	$	106
Variable lease expense	84		55		44
Short-term lease expense	15		18		9

Total lease expense	$	214	$	174	$	159

In March 2019, we entered into a non-cancellable lease for an office building. In 2021, the construction of the office building was completed and the lease commenced. The initial lease term is five years with options to renew, purchase, or sell the office building at the end of the lease term. The lease contains a residual value guarantee of up to eighty-three percent of the total construction cost of $499 million.

We currently operate approximately 337 miles of railway that extends from Cincinnati, Ohio to Chattanooga, Tennessee under an operating lease agreement. Lease expense associated with this agreement totaled $26 million, $25 million, and $24 million in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. In 2022, we entered into an asset purchase and sale agreement with the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to purchase this line (see further discussion in Note 17). The total purchase price is expected to be approximately $1.7 billion and will close on March 15, 2024. At close, the existing lease arrangement will terminate and the assets purchased will be reflected in “Properties.”

Other information related to operating leases is as follows:


	December 31,
	2023		2022

Weighted-average remaining lease term (years) on operating leases	6.12		6.67

Weighted-average discount rates on operating leases	3.78	%	3.16	%

As the rates implicit in most of our leases are not readily determinable, we use a collateralized incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the lease commencement date in determining the present value of future payments. We use the portfolio approach and group leases into short-, medium-, and long-term categories, applying the corresponding incremental borrowing rates to these categories.

During 2023 and 2022, respectively, ROU assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities were $65 million and $57 million, respectively. Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities was $117 million and $100 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively, and is included in operating cash flows.

Future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows:


	December 31, 2023
	($ in millions)

2024	$	116
2025	105
2026	85
2027	42
2028	30
2029 and subsequent years	66
Total lease payments	444
Less: Interest	52

Present value of lease liabilities	$	392


	December 31, 2022
	($ in millions)

2023	$	103
2024	95
2025	87
2026	69
2027	27
2028 and subsequent years	81
Total lease payments	462
Less: Interest	52

Present value of lease liabilities	$	410