National Rail says it is doing all it can to honour passengers' tickets during the rail strikes but admits the industrial action is going to cause 'significant disruption'.

With three further walkouts planned for the peak of the school holidays, many people are now faced with cancelling or rearranging their summer plans.

Strikes on Saturday, July 30 and again on August 18 and 20 are set to cause havoc with timetables as everyone from Network Rail staff to train drivers and staff at 14 train operating companies walk out in ongoing disputes over pay and working conditions.

Passengers with train travel already booked, says National Rail Inquiries which is part of the nationwide Rail Delivery Group, have three main options when it comes to what to do with their existing train tickets and here's what they are:

1. Refunds

If your service has been cancelled, delayed or rescheduled by the strikes that have been announced you should be entitled to a change or refund from the original retailer you bought your ticket from. An admin fee, which should be no more than £10, will apply however to changes to an advance ticket made between 6pm the day before you plan to travel and the departure of the first booked service.

If services are delayed because of the strike action and the disruption meets the Delay Repay threshold, passengers will be entitled to compensation and must contact the train company that they travelled with for reimbursement or details about how to make that claim.

2. Change your travel plans

If you are able to complete your journey on an alternative date either side of the scheduled strike, there may be an option to do so without needing to make too many changes, if any, to your ticket.

If you have a ticket for travel for July 30, when no trains are expected to run, you can use this ticket either on the day before the date on the ticket or through to and including Tuesday, August 2 says the National Rail Inquiries website.

This does not apply for season ticket holders and if you booked a journey that includes crossing London, it will not be valid on London Underground services on that alternative date.

Further contingency plans for the two later strikes are currently in the process of being implemented but more details can be found here.

3. Change your operator or route

This could be easier said than done, but to help minimise any disruption, suggests train operators, you may be able to use your ticket on another train company or an alternative route to get to your intended destination.

Passengers wishing to take up this option should contact the train company they are booked and paid to travel with for more information and alternative options for their route. Learn more about that here.

The rail strikes are likely to add to the woes of Kent's tourist attractions and event planners. which have already seen the summer break get off to a difficult start in the county thanks to cross-Channel chaos at the Port of Dover.

Passengers trying to get to Europe have faced extensive delays at passport control which has led to gridlock on the county's roads with attractions including Dover Castle among those reporting a drop in visitor numbers across the first few days of the school holiday.