FORT WORTH, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 09/02/08 -- BNSF Railway Company will replace almost 20 track miles of rail at several locations between Beaver Hill, Mont., and Mandan, N.D., beginning Sept. 2. The project is expected to cost an estimated $8 million and is scheduled to conclude Oct. 16, 2008.

Two rail replacement production crews of 33 employees each will utilize equipment such as cranes, welders and ballast tampers to replace rail at an estimated combined rate of one mile a day for 34 days. To allow the two BNSF crews time to replace the rail, sections of track will be closed 6 hours a day during the week until completion. Materials replaced on the line will be reused or recycled in keeping with BNSF's environmental stewardship policies.

As part of a $2.85 billion capital commitment, BNSF currently expects to spend more than $1.8 billion to keep the railway's infrastructure strong by refreshing track, signal systems, structures, freight cars, and upgrading technologies. Unlike other modes of transportation, BNSF must build and maintain its own tracks, signals and other infrastructure.

About BNSF

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE: BNI), BNSF Railway Company operates one of the largest North American rail networks, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, carries the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough low-sulfur 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.