News Release

BNSF Elects J.C. Watts, Jr., to its Board

FORT WORTH, Texas, January 16, 2003:

The Board of Directors of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) (NYSE: BNI) today announced the election to its Board of J. C. Watts, Jr., 45, the four-term U.S. Congressman from the Fourth District of Oklahoma who did not stand for re-election last November. The appointment is effective immediately.

In making the announcement, Matthew K. Rose, BNSF Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted to welcome J.C. Watts to our Board. His distinguished record in Congress and his leadership as Chairman of the House Republican Conference and as a member of the House Armed Services Committee earned him respect from both sides of the aisle. Congressman Watts’ perspective and experience on a range of issues will be of critical value to our Board in the years ahead.”

Prior to his 1994 election to Congress, Congressman Watts was Chairman of the Oklahoma State Corporation Commission, which he had been elected to in 1990. He had a distinguished college and professional football career as a quarterback and was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Honor in 1992.

A 1981 graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. degree in Journalism, Congressman Watts and his wife, Frankie, have five children, and they reside in Norman, Oklahoma.

Through its subsidiary, The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, BNSF operates one of the largest railroad networks in the United States, with 33,000 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a wide variety of customer transactions. The railway is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the mineral components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate about 10 percent of the electricity produced in the United States.

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