News Release

BNSF's Economic Development Efforts Add Jobs and Investments in Oklahoma

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 24, 2004:

Economic development efforts of The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) during the last 12 months were instrumental in the location of several new and expanded facilities representing an additional 165 jobs with an economic impact of more than $140 million in Oklahoma.

With BNSF's assistance, several companies chose to locate new or expand existing facilities in Oklahoma, including one of the largest printing facilities in North America, a fence manufacturer, and a plastic container plant. BNSF supports and expedites the relocation and expansion of new and growing businesses by managing the development of infrastructure to access its rail network.

"Discovery Plastics’ new plant in Miami (Okla.) is driving our transformation into a diverse multi-product company," says George Foster, owner, Discovery Plastics. "BNSF helped us define our logistics needs and consistently keeps us supplied with critical feedstock to operate our plant. By working with the City of Miami to secure a community development block grant, BNSF helped enable us to enter new markets and compete more effectively."

"The BNSF supply chain benefits Oklahoma in addition to the U.S. economy as a whole," says Vann Cunningham, assistant vice president, BNSF Economic Development. "Rail provides economical yet efficient and customizable transportation to help improve the movement of freight from production to consumption markets."

"BNSF supports economic development in Oklahoma by working with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and local economic development agencies to provide assistance on business incentives, financing programs, sites, and land costs," says John Reed, Director Office of Business Locations, Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

BNSF helps businesses optimize their site selection, supply chain and distribution networks with improved connections to BNSF’s freight transportation system. For more information about BNSF's economic development assistance, go to www.bnsf.com/econdev.

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF 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