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July 26, 2005 8:30 AM, EDT

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urlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Tuesday reported second-quarter net earnings of $366 million or 96 cents a share, up from $249 million or 67 cents a year earlier.

The per-share earnings were a record, as were the railroad’s second-quarter freight revenue of $3.04 billion, up from $2.64 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Burlington Northern is the parent of western railroad BNSF Railway Co.

Consumer products, which include intermodal rail shipments, rose 19% to $201 million for the quarter as a result of double-digit volume increases in international, truckload, automotive and perishable sectors, BNSF said.

BNSF said Thursday it would boosts its next quarterly dividend by 18%, or 3 cents, to 20 cents a share on outstanding common stock, payable Oct. 3 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 12.