News Release

BNSF Sends Six Maintenance Crews to Alabama for Track Work

FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 12, 2009:

BNSF Railway Company dispatched six maintenance crews last week to replace rail, ties and ballast between Reese and Adamsville, Ala.

"This project is part of our ongoing effort to maintain our infrastructure to ensure we meet our customers' needs for reliability and timely service," said Dave Freeman, BNSF's vice president, Engineering. "Our continuing maintenance program is an example of BNSF's commitment to its customers and the communities it serves."

Almost 200 BNSF employees will work until mid-February replacing approximately 65,000 ties and almost seven track miles of rail. The total cost of this project is about $13 million. Crews will utilize equipment such as cranes, welders and ballast tampers to replace rail at a rate of almost one mile a day. Materials replaced on the rail line will be reused or recycled in keeping with BNSF's environmental stewardship policies.

To allow the BNSF crew time to replace the rail, sections of track will be closed periodically until the work is complete.

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