ARRIVA say they are operating emergency timetables for bus services in County Durham, Tees Valley, east Cleveland and parts of North Yorkshire between Sunday, January 6 and Saturday, January 12.

Full details of the time tables are available on the Arriva website.

Arriva North East bus services in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland will run normally during this period, and are unaffected by the industrial action (except Service X12).

The Northern Echo:

Stagecoach North East will accept all Arriva tickets in Teesside from weekly and upwards in all formats and also Middlesbrough College Student ID cards on their services that are along the line of or close to Arriva routes.

Northern Rail will accept travel on the services listed below for passengers holding valid Arriva day and season tickets, along with free travel for concessionary travellers (after 0930) and relevant college id cards for the duration of the industrial action.

• Bishop Auckland – Darlington

• Darlington – Stockton (Thornaby) – Middlesbrough

Saltburn – Redcar – Middlesbrough

• Whitby – Nunthorpe – Middlesbrough

• Hartlepool – Seaham – Sunderland

Tickets can be presented on paper, on a smartcard or on the Arriva Bus mobile app.

CrossCountry Trains have agreed to accept Arriva 4-Weekly and Annual Saver tickets in paper or m-ticket format between Darlington – Durham – Newcastle for the duration of the strike.

Can passengers get a refund for tickets they cannot use?

Arriva say: “We are sorry for the inconvenience you have experienced. Whilst we are not in a position to offer you a refund, we will replace your un-used ticket with an alternative ticket for use on our services or send you a voucher.

“If you hold an annual or term time ticket please contact Customer Services stating the type of ticket you have purchased.

“For m-ticket replacements, please contact customer services and we will contact you and issue replacement m-ticket for the days you have lost.

“If you hold a paper ticket, replacement vouchers will be sent to you to use onboard the bus to cover the occasions that you have not been able to use your pre-purchased ticket. To claim your replacement vouchers please contact us via the link below.

"Please bear with us as due to the high volume of requests it may take us a bit longer than usual to get back to you.

"All requests for replacement tickets should be made by the deadline of 28 February 2019.”

Will passengers be offered compensation?

Arriva says: “You will not be offered additional compensation however, we will replace the tickets or provide vouchers for the days that you have not been able to use the ticket you have purchased.”