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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
[BNSF LOGO] NEWS
Contact: Richard Russack FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(817) 352-6425
Krebs Responds to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
Decisions Regarding BNSF's Motions on Moratorium
FORT WORTH, Texas, April 25, 2000 -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Corporation (NYSE: BNI) (BNSF) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert D.
Krebs responded to today's D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decisions on BNSF's
motions for a stay of the Surface Transportation Board's 15-month moratorium on
proposed rail consolidations and for expedited judicial review of the
moratorium.
"We are glad the Court will move quickly to a decision on the merits of the
Board's moratorium," Krebs said. "We believe that the court will agree with us
that the Board did not have the authority to prevent the filing of our
application, and we look forward to the opportunity to file our application
after the Court rules on the merits, or earlier if the Court rules favorably on
our motion for a stay on June 13."
BNSF and Canadian National Railway Company announced their proposed
combination through a new company, North American Railways, Inc., on Dec. 20,
1999. The combination will create a rail system stretching 50,000 miles, linking
eight Canadian provinces and 33 states in the western and central United States,
and employing 67,000 people.
Through its subsidiary, The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway
Company, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, BNSF operates one of the largest
rail networks in North America with 33,500 route miles of track covering 28
states and two Canadian provinces.
North American Railways, Inc. and CN have filed a registration statement on
Form F-4/S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection
with the securities to be issued in the combination. This filing also includes
the preliminary 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
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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, 817-352-6856. 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.
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