CN and Norfolk Southern announce routing protocol to streamline interc

    News Editors

    MONTREAL & NORFOLK, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 2005--CN (NYSE:CNI)(TSX:CNR) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NSR), a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC), announced today a structured routing protocol to streamline their exchange of rail traffic at major gateways.

    Under their latest agreement - the product of a comprehensive examination of all inter-line traffic and service schedules - CN and Norfolk Southern will direct rail traffic through the most efficient interchange locations. The objective is to improve network capacity, transit times and asset utilization for through rail car movements. The agreement will be implemented over the next three months.

    James Foote, CN's executive vice-president, sales and marketing, said: "This agreement will improve our inter-line coordination and equipment cycles and focus our organizations on improving the service product that we offer to our joint customers."

    Donald Seale, Norfolk Southern's executive vice president, sales and marketing, said: "With the demand for freight rail service increasing at historic levels throughout North America, this is a creative way of expanding network capacity and enhancing the service options available to our joint customers."

    The major interchange points for traffic moving between CN and NSR are Rouses Point and Buffalo, N.Y., Detroit, Toledo, Ohio, Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala.

    The routing protocol will result in a number of changes:

    - Traffic between the Louisiana gulf and the Northeast United States will be interchanged directly at New Orleans or Memphis, benefiting from a more direct route and fewer intermediate handlings;

    - Western Canada traffic to and from the south-central U.S. will be interchanged at Memphis, avoiding the congestion and additional handling in Chicago.

    - The parties will expand the use of the new Rouses Point gateway agreement announced in November 2004 to further handle traffic between Eastern Canada and the southeastern U.S.

    Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates 21,300 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada, serving every major container port in the eastern United States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers. NS operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is North America 's largest rail carrier of automotive parts and finished vehicles. For more information, visit Norfolk Southern's website at www.nscorp.com.

    Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information, visit CN's website at www.cn.ca.



    www.cn.ca

    Canadian National Railway Company (TSX:CNR) (NYSE:CNI)
    Norfolk Southern Railway (NYSE:NSC)

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CONTACT: CN Mark Hallman (Media) (905) 669-3384 OR CN Robert Noorigian (Investment Community) (514) 399-0052 OR Norfolk Southern Corporation Susan Terpay (Media) (757) 823-5204 OR Norfolk Southern Corporation Leanne Marilley (Investors) (757) 629-2861

KEYWORD: WEST VIRGINIA ALABAMA LOUISIANA ILLINOIS OHIO NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL CANADA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY SOURCE: Canadian National Railway Company

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