Company now has VMAs with 21 of 33 communities along former EJ&E CHICAGO, IL, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE:CNI) announced today it has reached a voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) with the Village of Plainfield, Ill., located 35 miles southwest of Chicago, addressing the municipality's environmental issues with CN's acquisition of the principal lines of the former Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E). With this agreement, CN has VMAs with 21 municipalities of the 33 communities situated on the EJ&E in Illinois and Indiana. CN's latest VMA will provide funding for environmental measures including maintenance of an existing quiet zone, operations mitigation, emergency response training, safety initiatives, and improved communication. CN completed its EJ&E acquisition on Jan. 31, 2009, and, while traffic volumes overall remain down owing to general economic conditions, CN has rerouted a limited number of its trains over the rail line. CN has been very transparent in its implementation of this transaction. In compliance with the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) Dec. 24, 2008, decision approving the EJ&E transaction, CN files monthly operational and quarterly environmental reports at the Board with updates on the status of implementation of the environmental mitigation measures imposed by the agency. CN is also working closely with communities along 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 STB. Integration of the CN and EJ&E networks is well underway, and, as contemplated in the original plan, the Company continues to expect it will be completed within three years of its acquisition of control. More information on the acquisition, including a map of the areas served by the EJ&E and CN, is available on CN's website, http://www.cn.ca/. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements. CN cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions. Implicit in these statements, particularly in respect of long-term growth opportunities, is the Company's assumption that such growth opportunities are less affected by the current situation in the North American and global economies. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that the current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. The Company cautions that its results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the effects of adverse general economic and business conditions, including the recession in the North American economy and the global economic contraction in 2009, 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 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 http://www.cn.ca/. DATASOURCE: CN CONTACT: Media: Patrick Waldron, Manager, Public Affairs, (708) 332-4377; Investors: Robert Noorigian, Vice-President, Investor Relations, (514) 399-0052

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