CN and CSXT First to Offer Rail Customers Instantaneous Interline Pricing.

Business Editors

MONTREAL & JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2004

In a rail industry first, CN (NYSE:CNI) (TSX:CNR) and CSX Transportation (CSXT) (NYSE:CSX) today announced a jointly developed electronic tool offering customers instantaneous interline prices for carload shipments moving over their networks.

The new tool, called "A+B Pricing," uses Web Services Internet technology, and allows railroad account managers to retrieve and combine CN's and CSXT's revenue requirements to quote market competitive interline prices in real time for any origin, destination and commodity on the two rail systems.

The railroads expect to make the tool available on their web sites this year for customers to access directly. Customers will be able to go to the originating railroad's web site and ask for a combined interline price.

Immediate access to competitive interline pricing will make shipping via CN and CSXT easier and more accurate. This is another important step in making the railroads attractive to freight currently moving over North America's highways.

James Foote, CN's executive vice-president, sales and marketing, said: "Our A+B Pricing capability is a real step forward for the rail industry. Traditionally, the process of quoting interline prices has been manually intensive and time-consuming. Before A+B Pricing, a railroad had to contact the connecting carrier by telephone or email to request a revenue requirement. This would result in delays of days, even weeks, in getting the interline price quote to the customer. In today's business environment, that's not acceptable. We needed to change to be more competitive."

"In response to our customers' demand for easier and faster interline price quotes, CSXT and the CN have joined forces to create a new tool for customers that will dramatically improve response time, billing accuracy and efficiency," said Clarence Gooden, CSXT senior vice president-Merchandise Service Group. "Because interline moves comprise more than half of our business, this innovation is anther important step in making our railroads more progressive in the industry, and more focused on our customers' needs than ever before."

CN and CSXT will continue to work with other railroads and shortline partners to expand A+B Pricing coverage this year.

CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., owns the largest rail network in the eastern United States. CSX Transportation Inc. and its 34,000 employees provide rail transportation services over a 23,000 route-mile network in 23 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. CSX Corporation also provides intermodal and global container terminal operations through other subsidiaries.

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.