Britain faces severe rail disruption as strikes resume

Mick Lynch, General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, joins other union members on strike at a picket line outside Euston railway station in London, Britain, August 20, 2022. © Henry Nicholls, Reuters

Trains in Britain all but ground to a halt Saturday as coordinated strikes by rail workers added to a week of turmoil caused by soaring energy prices and unfunded tax cuts that roiled financial markets.

Only about 11% of train services were expected to operate across the U.K. on Saturday, according to Network Rail. Unions said they called the latest in a series of one-day strikes to demand that wage increases keep pace with inflation that is expected to peak at around 11% this month.