News Release

BNSF Honors Nebraska Employee for Excellence in Safety

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 11, 2005:

BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) today announced that it named William Bell, BNSF carman in Alliance, Neb., one of its six Safety Employees of the Year for 2004.

Bell received this award on April 4, 2005 at a special ceremony in Fort Worth because he consistently supports safety awareness and encourages his co-workers to do the same. With 32 years of service and experience, he also serves as mentor and coach to the shop’s apprentice carmen. For more than 10 years, he had participated in Operation Lifesaver, spreading safety awareness throughout the Powder River Basin. As an Operation Lifesaver presenter, Bell provides more than 50 Operation Lifesaver briefings per year to local communities.

"Ensuring safety for our employees, our customers and the communities we serve is the number one priority at BNSF," says Matt Rose, BNSF chairman, president and CEO. "We are proud to honor our employees who have demonstrated safe operating practices and help us to achieve our vision of operating free of accidents and injuries."

The BNSF Safety Employees of the Year for 2004 are Thomas Anderson, Havre, Mont.; Gary Watkins, Fresno, Calif.; Jerry Garton, Douglas, Wyo.; Robert Johnson, Northtown, Minn.; William Bell, Alliance, Neb.; and Lonny Johnson, Grand Rapids, Minn..

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF Railway operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,000 route miles in 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 Railway 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