CN signs voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) with Village of New Lenox, Ill.

CHICAGO, IL, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ - CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) announced today it has reached a voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) with the Village of New Lenox, Ill., located approximately 36 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, regarding its acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E). With this agreement, CN has VMAs with almost 80 per cent of the 33 communities along the EJ&E in Illinois and Indiana.

CN, which completed its purchase of the EJ&E on Jan. 31, 2009, will provide New Lenox funding for the creation of a quiet zone, noise and safety mitigation, communications and emergency response training.

Jim Vena, CN senior vice-president, Southern Region, said: "CN is pleased to have come to terms with the New Lenox on this mitigation agreement, which is the 26th VMA signed by CN with communities on the EJ&E line. We believe negotiated settlements like the one with New Lenox will help to establish solid ties between CN and the communities through which it operates on the EJ&E and ensure effective lines of communication in the future."

CN is also working closely with the few remaining communities on the EJ&E that do not have agreements with CN to ensure implementation of safety and environmental conditions in accordance with the requirements of the Surface Transportation Board.

Integration of the CN and EJ&E networks is well underway. For more information on the acquisition, including a map of the areas served by CN, please 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, including statements as to the expected completion of the integration of the CN and EJ&E networks. 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 matters, or any other forward-looking statement.

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, 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.