Merger, effective Jan. 1, 2013, expected to generate operational
efficiencies, improved service

CHICAGO, Dec. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI)
announced today it will complete the merger of the Elgin, Joliet and
Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E) into its Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC)
subsidiary, effective Jan. 1, 2013. The merger of the two rail
affiliates that connect in the Chicago area will simplify CN’s
corporate structure and operations in the United States.

Jim Vena, CN senior vice-president, CN Southern Region, said: “CN
expects the merger will lead to operational efficiencies and service
improvements. These merged railroads will continue all the existing
operations of WC and EJ&E in the Chicago Terminal with a unified
workforce, which will permit better management of crew staffing and
more efficient and reliable rail service to customers throughout the
region.”

The merger was authorized through a notice of exemption for transactions
within a corporate family filed with the U.S. Surface Transportation
Board (STB) on May 23, 2012, that became effective on June 22, 2012.
Voluntary implementing agreements with the unions representing the
various crafts were reached, allowing the company to complete the
merger.

The merger will not affect or alter the STB’s continuing oversight and
reserved jurisdiction over CN’s 2009 acquisition of the EJ&E, the
mitigation conditions imposed by the STB, or the Voluntary Mitigation
Agreements reached by CN and numerous communities along the EJ&E arc.

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.

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 or
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 risk factors that could affect the 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.

SOURCE CN