FED-UP passengers face the prospect of six strikes on our public transport as more bus and rail workers take on their bosses.

With crisis talks ongoing last night between Southern rail executives and RMT union bosses over next week's planned five-day walk-out, more rail and bus workers also said they were considering industrial action over working roles and conditions.

On top of months of delays and strikes, patience among businesses and commuters was at breaking point yesterday, with the head of Brighton and Hove Albion FC, Paul Barber, calling the impact of rail strikes "totally unacceptable".

Commuters now potentially face:

1. A five day walk-out next Monday-to-Friday by Southern rail conductors over changes to their roles which they say are unsafe and will lead to job losses. Talks with the RMT Union are expected to continue today.

2. A train drivers' strike over "ongoing issues" from Southern's new emergency timetable. (It cut 341 trains mid-July to cope with high conductor sickness levels - deemed by then-rail minister Claire Perry informal industrial action). Aslef union's ballots are due back at the end of August.

3. A ticket staff strike over the planned closure of Southern ticket offices, which they say threatens jobs, pay and safety. RMT Union's ballot of more than 1,000 staff opened Tuesday and is due to close August 16.

4. Second, co-ordinated ticket staff strike by TSSA union staff who say office closures would be a "recipe for confusion". Ballot announced yesterday of more than 250 station staff, due back on August 10. Any action planned for September.

5. Bus drivers and engineers strike, possibly as soon as next Friday, over allegedly "draconian management" and a "culture of fear". Unite said around 800 of its members at Brighton and Hove Buses and its subsidiary Metrobus, in Crawley, voted 71.4 per cent in favour of strike action, and 83.3 per cent backing industrial action short of a strike. Talks were ongoing yesterday to determine whether strike would go ahead. Brighton and Hove Buses chief executive Martin Harris challenged the union's ballot figures and denied staff were bullied into working overtime.

6. Second strike among bus drivers in Brighton and Hove. The GMB union said yesterday 102 members at Brighton and Hove Buses had voted 87 per cent in favour of a strike in a consultative ballot, with a formal ballot on the cards.

Last night Southern rail commuter Tom Constantine, 26, said the situation had gone too far.

He said: "Next week I have to work from home all week. I am lucky I can do that.

"I really don't have sympathy with either side, to be honest. I am not picking a side.

"But I am getting a bit sick of the RMT saying the public is on their side, when I don't really know if that's true any more."

BOSSES ON HOLIDAY AS STRIKE NEARS

WITH the biggest strike action of the bitter dispute between Southern Rail bosses and conductors about to start, two top managers are on holiday.

We can reveal Southern’s second-in-command as well as the man who manages routes for passengers are on holiday, with the strike due to start on Monday.

Talks are set to continue today between Southern and the RMT union as the company tries to avert the five-day walk out among conductors over changes to their roles.

Yesterday it emerged that Dyan Crowther, chief operating officer of Southern’s parent company Govia Thameslink Railway, is on annual leave until August 15, while passenger services director Alex Foulds is due back from annual leave on Monday (August 8).

A company spokesman defended their leave at such a critical time, saying “all managers have families like everyone else, and this dispute has been going on for a long time”.

She added that the dispute resolution via Acas had always been led by the human resources team, with members of the executive team.

She added: “In the meantime our chief executive, Charles Horton, is here, leading the operation in preparation for any strike.”

Southern said if the strike takes place it will cause “significant disruption with no service on some lines and only a limited service over limited hours on others”.

Ms Crowther has said the strike is unnecessary, saying all onboard staff had a job with no reduction in salary.

She said: “The sooner we can introduce the essential modernisation that our railways desperately need, the sooner we can stop the RMT from holding the passengers to ransom.”