Rail union calls off booking office strikes

A series of planned strikes by booking office staff at railway stations on the West Coast line was suspended today.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association cancelled walk-outs due to be held at rush-hour in the coming weeks, saying Virgin Trains had agreed to "meaningful discussions" in a row over booking office window closures.

The union has held a number of strikes in protest at the introduction of machines in ticket offices between Euston and Glasgow.

Gerry Doherty, union general secretary, said: "We welcome the talks and hope to achieve a solution which maintains a full booking office service."

Virgin says it is not cutting jobs or closing ticket offices.