News Release

BNSF Moves 10,000th Carload of Ethanol through BNSF Ethanol Express™ Unit Train Service

FORT WORTH, Texas, September 28, 2004:

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) today celebrated the delivery of the 10,000 carload of ethanol moved by BNSF’s Ethanol Express^TM unit train service from the Midwestern United States to Lomita Rail Terminal in Watson, Calif., 18 miles south of Los Angeles, Calif.

Ethanol Express^TM, the industry’s first ethanol unit train service, began in October 2003. Ethanol Express^TM is a 95-car unit train that moves ethanol from a single origin or gathering location to a single destination. More than 100 unit trains have run since the inception of the program. The program is designed to save ethanol producers time and money through increased fleet utilization, lower inventory carrying costs and logistics coordination and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"The 10,000 carload of ethanol moved by Ethanol Express^TM service is truly something to celebrate," says Kevin Kaufman, BNSF group vice president, Agricultural Products Marketing. "This highly reliable service efficiently moves ethanol from production areas in the U.S. corn belt to major refiners in the high-consumption area of the Los Angeles basin. It is universally recognized as a safe and effective mode of transportation that is being replicated for other large consumption markets."

Ethanol Express^TM increases market access for producers such as Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Cargill, Inc.

"Ethanol Express^TM has shortened our cycle times on equipment in an operating environment that has been full of tactical challenges," says Craig Huss, President, ADM Transportation Division.

According to Brian Silvey, vice president, Cargill, Inc. Ethanol Product Line, "Streamlining the transportation process allows our plants to be more efficient. These efficiencies benefit the gasoline consumers of California as well as the corn growers around our manufacturing facilities."

Southern California refiners are also experiencing the benefits of BNSF’s Ethanol Express^TM.

"Shell realized the importance of developing an arrangement that ensures an efficient, reliable source of ethanol will be supplied to California," says John Hollowell, director-distribution, Shell Oil Products US. "By working with BNSF we are confident that the needs of our customers and California residents will continue to be met."

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 low-sulphur 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