NJ Transit riders are facing massive service disruptions as the system barrels like a runaway train toward Thursday’s midnight deadline to avoid its first major rail strike in over 40 years. The Garden State-owned rail service has already festooned stations with screaming-red signage warning of deep service cuts starting at midnight Friday if contract negotiations with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers union fall through.

NJ Transit locomotive engineers could soon walk off the job, bringing to a halt a rail service used by 350,000 commuters in the event of a work stoppage. As of Thursday morning, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union and NJ Transit representatives were still meeting in negotiations hoping to reach an agreement prior to a potential strike.

With just hours left before a 12:01 a.m. strike deadline set by the NJ Transit local that represents the Garden State’s hundreds of train engineers, spokesmen for the union and NJ Transit