31.   The halt to the rail strike was expected to affect separate negotiations under way to end a two-day walkout by state electricity workers.

32.   The rail strike has taken a toll on businesses.

33.   The state railway advised passengers to stay away from train stations, saying a nationwide rail strike would halt virtually all train traffic Sunday.

34.   Thousands of commuters in northern England struggled to get to work Friday on the second day of a rail strike.

35.   Train service across France slowed to a crawl Sunday night on the eve of a Europe-wide rail strike.

36.   Train service slowed to a crawl on Friday during the second national rail strike in a week in France.

37.   Thousands of workers, from small shops to huge car factories, have been laid off due to the rail strike.

38.   To avoid a bread shortage in the capital, Paris bakers had to ship in flour by trucks and barges to bypass the rail strike.

39.   Two teen-agers who tried to throw a conductor out of a train sparked a huge rail strike on Thursday across the Riviera and other parts of southern France.

40.   With subways and buses idled, thousands of Parisians walked home from work Wednesday, the sixth day of a rail strike that has crippled France and exasperated commuters.