MONTREAL, Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ – CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) today
filed a preliminary shelf prospectus with Canadian securities
regulators and a registration statement with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), providing for the issuance by
CN of up to C$2.5 billion of debt securities in Canadian and U.S.
markets over the next two years.

CN expects to use net proceeds from the sale of debt securities under
the shelf prospectus for general corporate purposes, including the
redemption and refinancing of outstanding debt, share repurchases,
acquisitions, and other business opportunities.

A registration statement related to these debt securities has been filed
with the SEC; however, it is not yet effective. Securities may not be
sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, before the registration
statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an
offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities,
nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in
which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of such
jurisdiction.

A copy of the preliminary shelf prospectus will be available on the
Canadian Securities Administrators’ web site, www.sedar.com, or on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. It may also be obtained from the Corporate Secretary, Canadian
National Railway Company, 935 de La Gauchetière Street West, Montreal,
Que., H3B 2M9 (telephone: 514-399-7091).

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.

SOURCE CN