Gov. Phil Murphy campaigned for the State House eight years ago on a promise to fix New Jersey’s transit system. He called NJ Transit a “national disgrace,” and blamed his predecessor Chris Christie for not investing in the system used by more than 170,000 weekday rail riders.

If the engineers do walk off the job, the agency plans to increase bus service, saying it would add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.

NJ Transit trains could stop running at 12:01 a.m. Friday if locomotive engineers go on strike over the salary increase they want​.

NJ Transit said that 350,000 commuters would be affected by a strike. If the strike occurs, a contingency plan would move rail commuters to its buses. However, only about 20%, or 20,000, of its daily rail commuters could be accommodated by the plan, according to Kolluri.

Gov. Phil Murphy discusses looming NJ Transit strike, Newark airport delays, Medicaid cuts, and budget concerns amid federal uncertainty.

Commuters in New Jersey are facing a triple threat this week: a looming NJ Transit strike, severe delays at Newark Airport, and road closures due to sinkholes on I-80.

Both the CEO of NJ Transit and the leader of the union representing hundreds of locomotive engineers expressed optimism Wednesday evening about reaching a deal to avoid a potential rail strike before 12:01 a.