News Release

BNSF Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend

BNSF Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend:

Directors of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI) voted on April 22, 2004, to pay a regular quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share on outstanding common stock.

Dividends on common stock will be paid July 1, 2004, to shareholders of record June 10, 2004. Common shares outstanding on March 31, 2004, totaled approximately 371 million.

BNSF’s subsidiary, The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,500 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. The railway is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough 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
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000