The Facts About the Misleading Minneapolis Star Tribune Report

BNSF Railway, on behalf of its more than 38,000 dedicated employees, strongly objects to the "investigative" series published during the week of Dec. 5, 2010 by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. BNSF wants to assure the public that, contrary to the implications of the Star-Tribune story, the company operates with honesty and integrity and has achieved an excellent safety record.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has spent the better part of a year and many journalists' time combing through hundreds of cases occurring over the past 30 years trying to find a "smoking gun". Relying heavily on materials from plaintiff's attorneys, with a financial interest in the matter, they found little, if any true evidence of any misdeeds. The resulting story is filled with bias, innuendo and misrepresentation of the facts.

Believers in an honest and impartial press should be concerned. We encourage you to read the facts and documents contained in this website to see whether the Star Tribune selectively ignored essential information and failed to provide unbiased reporting.

You will find that:

• Publicly available data from the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety Analysis shows that during the past decade BNSF has had one of the lowest highway-railroad grade-crossing collision rates in the industry.
  
  
• BNSF is a company known for operating with honesty and integrity.
  
  
• The company's vision and values are to realize BNSF's tremendous potential by providing transportation services that consistently meet our customers' expectations, by.
  • Listening to customers and doing what it takes to meet their expectations
  • Empowering one another, showing concern for our colleagues' well-being and respect for their talents and achievements
  • Continuously improving by striving to do the right thing safely and efficiently
  • Celebrating our rich heritage and building on our success as we shape our promising future
• More than a dozen awards over the past three years recognized BNSF's nationally leading employment practices from diversity and military focused organizations and publications.
  
  
• Car/rail collision evidence-including eye witness testimony, State Patrol investigative reports and crossing gate data-consistently show that the Anoka grade crossing incident in 2003 was not BNSF's fault.