News Release

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Completes Industry's First Coal Transportation Option Auction

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 30, 2001:

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) today announced the sale of 48 of 70 transportation option contracts available in an Internet auction May 25. The contracts, the industry’s first, provide utilities, mines and others with the opportunity to lock in transportation capacity and price up to 18 months in advance.

“We’re pleased with the results of this initial auction, although we believe short-term coal supply issues may have limited buyers’ interest in the three- and six-month options,” says Tom Kraemer, BNSF’s group vice president, Coal. “This product remains of interest to a broad cross-section of industry participants, not only traditional power generators but also marketers, end-users and traders.”

Additional information on the initial auction, as well as the next auction, scheduled for June 25, 2001, is available on the BNSF Web site at www.bnsf.com/business/coal/options/. Auction participants must register at that site.

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE: BNI), BNSF operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with 33,500 route miles of track covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF hauls enough coal to generate more than 11 percent of the electricity produced in the United States.

The option contracts give purchasers the right to move a trainload of coal via BNSF from one of three groups of Powder River Basin mines to one of 11 rail-water terminals at a specified price and at time intervals from three months to 18 months from the date of the auction.

Minimum bid for the options available in the initial auction was $400 for each option contract. Pricing for the transportation itself is provided through a matrix of specific transportation charges for each origin/destination pair.

Purchasers of options are not required to use the underlying transportation. Those who choose to do so may use BNSF-owned or privately owned coal hopper cars. Specific terms and conditions of the coal train option product are available on the BNSF Web site.

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