As late as Wednesday night, the two sides were expressing some optimism for a settlement. Since then, radio silence.

With a possible NJ Transit strike looming later this week​, engineers protested in front of the agency's headquarters on Wednesday in Newark.

New Jersey Transit urged riders to reach their destinations before the end of the day Thursday or risk being stranded as talks continued in a bid to avert a rail strike by train engineers that would affect some 350,000 commuters who work in New Jersey and New York City.

Engineers at New Jersey Transit are poised to go on strike one minute after midnight Friday morning, a stoppage that would create huge problems for100,000 daily train commuters, businesses across the New York metropolitan area as well as fans of Shakira and Beyoncé,

Beyonce fans might be better off riding a horse to next week’s “Cowboy Carter” concerts at MetLife Stadium if a strike shuts down NJ Transit rail service. NJ Transit’s train engineers could walk off the job as soon as Friday after Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers members voted to reject a tentative agreement between the leaders of the agency and the union.