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Filing under Rule 425
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Filer: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation
Companies that are subject to the filing:
Canadian National Railway Company
North American Railways, Inc.
Registration Statement No. 333-94397
[CN LOGO APPEARS HERE] [BNSF LOGO APPEARS HERE]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STATEMENT OF PAUL M. TELLIER, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER OF CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY, AND
ROBERT D. KREBS, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF
BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE CORPORATION
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2000 -- Canadian National Railway Company (TSE: CNR; NYSE:
CNI) ("CN") and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE: BNI) ("BNSF")
reinforced today that the common control application they will submit to the
Surface Transportation Board (STB) will address the issues, including service
and competition, raised during four days of STB hearings on the future of the
North American railroad industry. Those hearings concluded today.
CN President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier and BNSF Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer Robert D. Kerbs said: "We have listened attentively to
all participants in the four days of hearings. Testimony fell far short of a
consensus in favor of a moratorium on considering new rail mergers.
Participants expressed a desire for better service and assurances that service
failures associated with the two most recent rail mergers will not be repeated.
"We recognize that shoppers are concerned about service and the need for
heightened competition. As a result, we will include in our application a
Service Integration Plan similar to the required Safety Integration Plan. The
Service Integration Plan will address how we will provide service equal to or
better than we are currently providing shippers.
"We are committed to service guarantees and we will continue to explore with
shippers ways to inject greater competition into the industry, in addition to
keeping all efficient gateways open. We also will include in our application a
dispute-resolution process for shippers who are less than satisfied with our
service as part of the required STB post-combination oversight process. In
addition, our application will demonstrate how we will preserve and enhance
competition both on the North American railway network and off line and where we
have heard expressions of concern.
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Statement/Page Two
"We are willing to address employee issues as demonstrated by our agreement,
announced March 6, with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
"We thank the STB for holding this hearing separate from the review of our
control application."
# # #
CN contact: BNSF contact:
Mark Hallman Dick Russack
(416) 217-6390 (817) 352-6425
Through its subsidiary, The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company,
BNSF, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, operates one of the largest rail
networks in North America with 33,500 route miles of track covering 28 states
and two Canadian provinces. CN and North American Railways, Inc. have filed a
registration statement on Form F-4/S-4 with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the securities to be issued in the
combination. This filing also includes the proxy statement for the
shareholders' meetings to be held for approval of the combination. Investors
should read this document and other documents filed with the SEC by CN, BNSF and
North American Railways, Inc. about the combination because they contain
important information. These documents may be obtained for free at the SEC's
Web site, www.sec.gov. Other filings made by CN on Forms 40-F and 6-K may be
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obtained for free from the CN Corporate Secretary's office at (514) 399-6569.
Other filings made by BNSF on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K may be obtained for free
from the BNSF Corporate Secretary's office at 9817) 352-6856. For information
concerning participants in CN's solicitation of proxies for approval of the
combination, see "Certain Information Concerning Participants" filed by CN under
Rule 14a-12. For information concerning participants in BNSF's solicitation of
proxies for approval of the combination, see "Certain Information Concerning
Participants" filed by BNSF on Schedule 14A under Rule 14a-12.
