Driver walkout halts trains as UK summer strike wave spreads

Thousands of U.K. train drivers walked off the job Saturday in a strike over jobs, pay and conditions, scuppering services across much of the country. The action was the latest in a spreading series of strikes by British workers seeking substantial raises to offset soaring prices for food and fuel.
The 24-hour strike by members of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen halted trains on major routes, including the main lines between London and Scotland and commuter services around the capital.
Weekend workers, soccer fans heading for games and families seeking seaside solace from a heat wave were among those forced to change their plans.
This has been a summer of travel disruption in Britain. Thousands of railway cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers staged a series of one-day strikes in June and July. More strikes are scheduled next week on nationwide trains and on London’s bus and subway network.