CN, Western Stevedoring and forest-products companies sign MOU for
seven-day-a-week unloading at Lynnterm Terminal at Port Metro Vancouver

VANCOUVER, Oct. 19 /CNW Telbec/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE:CNI), Western Stevedoring Company Ltd. and several forest-products companies have reached a memorandum of understanding for seven-day-a-week unloading services at Western Stevedoring's Lynnterm Terminal at Port Metro Vancouver (PMV).

The tri-partite agreement among the railway, terminal and forest-products customers will produce a more consistent flow of forest-products traffic through Lynnterm Terminal and help improve supply chain efficiencies at PMV.

Under the agreement, CN will provide daily service to Lynnterm Terminal, which in turn will guarantee to unload cars seven days per week. The forest-products companies will work with both CN and Lynnterm Terminal to manage inbound traffic flows.

Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive officer, said: "I am pleased that the parties have collaborated on an innovative service plan that will generate productivity improvements and foster growth of traffic through this important Pacific Gateway terminal for forest products and other bulk commodities. Working together in this manner will enhance supply chain performance."

Tim Chapman, president of Western Stevedoring, said: "Western is pleased to have been chosen by CN and our major forest-products shippers to work toward a cooperative agreement to improve the forest-products logistics chain and to define service expectations among the parties."

CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - 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 metropolitan areas 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 on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information included in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature, these forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results of performance of the Company or the rail industry to be materially different from the outlook or any future results or performance implied by such statements. Important factors that could affect the above forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic and business conditions, industry competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations, changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by regulators, various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from derailments, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to "Management's Discussion and Analysis" in CN's annual and interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators, available on CN's website, for a summary of major risks.

CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related maters, or any other forward-looking statement.

For further information: For CN: Media: Mark Hallman, Director, Communications & Public Affairs, [phone]; Investment Community: Robert Noorigian, Vice-President, Investor Relations, [phone]; For Western Stevedoring: Keith Moger, VP Operations, [phone], email: [email protected]; Dave Lucas, Terminal Manager, Lynnterm, [phone], email: [email protected]