News Release

Railmarketplace.com sm Created For The Global Rail Industry

FORT WORTH, Texas, January 17, 2001:

Five of North America's largest railroads --Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Railway, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific -- along with iRail.com, Inc. and GE Global eXchange Services (GXS), today announced an alliance to create an online marketplace for the worldwide railroad industry that lets companies begin low-cost supply chain collaboration using only a Web browser. GXS will provide technology to the marketplace.

The initial founders of this new independent company, RailMarketplace.comSM, purchase more than $15 billion in supplies each year. Presently headquartered at Chicago, the RailMarketplace.com Web site is at www.railmarketplace.com.

The initial goal of RailMarketplace.com is to create an open and neutral electronic exchange to link buyers and sellers across the North American rail industry through fast, open access to goods and services. RailMarketplace can help companies obtain significant reductions in sourcing costs, transaction costs and purchasing cycle times, while simultaneously expanding their trading community.

Ultimately, the exchange is expected to link the rail industry globally in a multi-currency, multi-lingual marketplace. The new exchange, including auctions and other buying functions, is expected to be available in English, French and Spanish, among other languages. The exchange is expected to include a full suite of value-added services.

Through RailMarketplace.com, railroads, suppliers and other buyers will have the opportunity to reduce their costs through improved spending controls and global sourcing. Suppliers will benefit significantly from improved access to a larger customer base as well as from the opportunity to reduce costs of sales, order management and inventories. The exchange represents an effort to help the worldwide rail industry become more efficient.

GE Global eXchange Services (GXS) operates one of the largest B2B e-commerce networks in the world, with more than 100,000 trading partners. With a presence in 58 countries, GXS applies Six Sigma quality processes to provide e-commerce solutions that help businesses around the globe remove costs from their supply chains. GE Global eXchange Services is a part of the General Electric Company, U.S.A., and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md.

iRail.com, Inc. is a leading provider of technology based solutions to the global transportation industry from end to end strategic e-commerce development to technology consulting services. In addition, iRail.com operates an online information marketplace for the passenger transit industry whose content and community features are utilized by members including transit agencies, passenger and freight railroads, manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers. iRail.com, located in Parsippany, N.J. is a joint development of Singularity, LLC and Vistaar, Inc.

Contact : Mark S. Davis, Interim CEO, RailMarketplace.com

(402) 271-3032

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
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P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000