News Release

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation Increases Quarterly Dividend by 18 Percent

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 21, 2005:

Directors of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI) voted today, July 21, 2005, to increase BNSF’s next quarterly dividend by 18 percent, or 3 cents per share, to 20 cents per share on outstanding common stock. This represents an annualized 80 cents per share dividend.

The dividend of 20 cents per share on common stock will be paid October 3, 2005, to shareholders of record September 12, 2005. Common shares outstanding on June 30, 2005, totaled approximately 373 million.

The dividend increase follows the 13-percent increase and 25-percent increase approved by BNSF’s Board of Directors in July 2004 and July 2003, respectively.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation’s subsidiary BNSF Railway Company 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 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