News Release

BNSF Completes Two Major Infrastructure Projects in Illinois

FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 29, 2008:

At the rate of 2,000 railroad ties a day for 74 days, a 45-person BNSF track gang replaced more than 140,000 ties on the Chillicothe subdivision in Illinois. Replacement crews utilized tie cranes, spike pullers and tie insertion/removal machines to conduct work during an 8-hour window each day between Galesburg and Verona, Ill. Ties replaced on the rail line will be reused or recycled in keeping with BNSF's environmental stewardship policies.

Additionally, a second BNSF gang was conducting track undercutting operations on the Chillicothe line between Willow Springs and Niota, Ill. Undercutting involves the removal, cleaning and replacement of ballast (rocks) under the track. Ballast makes up the visible portion of the railway's roadbed and must be occasionally screened to remove broken rocks, dirt and other debris.

Together, the tie replacement and the undercutting projects cost approximately $12 million.

As part of a $2.85 billion capital commitment in 2008, BNSF currently expects to spend more than $1.8 billion this year to keep the railway's infrastructure strong by refreshing track, signal systems, structures, freight cars, and upgrading technologies. Unlike other modes of transportation, BNSF must build and maintain its own tracks, signals and other infrastructure.

About BNSF

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF Railway Company operates one of the largest North American rail networks, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, carries the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough low-sulfur coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at www.bnsf.com.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
Fort Worth, TX 76131-2830
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000