Norfolk Southern Corporation

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Norfolk Southern Corporation fourth quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Note that at this time, all participant lines are in the listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. And if at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. Also note that this call is being recorded on Thursday, January 29, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Luke Nichols, Senior Director, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Please note that during today's call, we will make certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or future performance of Norfolk Southern Corporation, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and may differ materially from actual results. Please refer to our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC for a full discussion of those risks and uncertainties we view as most important. Our presentation slides are available at NorfolkSouthern.com in the Investor section, along with a reconciliation of any non-GAAP measures used today to the comparable GAAP measures, including adjusted or non-GAAP operating ratios. Please note that all references to our prospective operating ratio during today's call are being provided on an adjusted basis. Turning to slide three, I'll now turn the call over to Norfolk Southern's President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark George.

Good morning, and thanks for joining. With me today are John Orr, our Chief Operating Officer, Ed Elkins, our Chief Commercial Officer, and Jason Zampe, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we get into the numbers, I want to recognize our Thoroughbred team. 2025 was a demanding year in every sense, and our people have met it with resilience, focus and commitment. They kept serving customers, improving our railroad, and they did it while tuning out the noise and concentrating on what matters most. Look, Q4 played out in an environment where volume was clearly softer than anyone had predicted. But even so, we controlled the controllables. costs landed exactly in line with the guidance we provided last quarter, reflecting disciplined execution across the company. And while there's been heavy external attention around the merger, I'm really proud that the team maintained its focus on the business, prioritizing safety, dependable service, and strong cost control. Now, looking back at the full year, 2025 was dizzying. It started with a challenging winter, followed by persistent tariff uncertainty, and then competitive dynamics tied to the announced merger. In the back half, the macro softened further and freight flows shifted. But through it all, our operating foundation held. Safety, our most important work, continued to advance, and service was consistent and reliable. We expanded our digital train inspection program, so now more than three-quarters of our traffic each month is scanned by portal technology. We had zero reportable mainline derailments in the fourth quarter. Let me repeat that, zero reportable mainline derailments in the quarter. Our investments in our one-of-a-kind digital inspection technology, our enhanced processes, as well as investments we've made in our people are collectively paying dividends. John will share more detail, but based on current data, 2025 stands as our best year in more than a decade when it comes to train accident rates. That progress comes from better technology tools, rigorous standards, and a culture that treats safety as a value, not a statistic. A year ago, I spoke about our desire to adopt a total quality management mindset at the railroad. And in our results, we are now seeing evidence of what we call total quality railroading. On costs and productivity, we did what we said we would do. And in several areas, we did better. We moved 3% more GTMs in 2025 with 4% fewer employees. That's 7% productivity. Our network is humming, and in 2025, we delivered steady efficiency gains with improved fluidity, asset utilization, and day-to-day execution that our customers can feel. These aren't one-off wins, but they're the product of sustained discipline and a team that knows how to execute. With that, I'll turn it over to the rest of our leadership team to walk through the quarter in more detail. John, let's start with you.