NJ Transit engineers are preparing to walk off the job on Friday, which could affect 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City.

A looming NJ Transit rail strike could upend the commutes of some 350,000 people per day starting Friday as engineers prepare for the first walkout in more than 40 years. And the New Jersey public transportation corporation’s emergency backup plan won’t come close to filling the gap.

The New Jersey Transit board on Wednesday night pushed the Garden State to the brink of its first major rail strike for the first time since 1983, adjourning their monthly meeting without cutting a deal with the agency’s locomotive engineer union.

NJ Transit and an engineers’ union appear to be steaming ahead to the first major rail strike in decades starting early Friday, even as both sides convene in Washington, D.C., where they pledged to continue negotiations.

A top New Jersey Transit union official said Friday the railroad needs to make significant movement on wages if a potentially crippling strike is to be averted before a May 16 deadline.

Here's where displaced riders can catch a bus from Boxcar, a privately owned shuttle company, which intends to compensate for demand from travelers through added services.

Three top Republican candidates for New Jersey governor participated in a fiery debate Wednesday.The contenders sparred on hot-button issues, including immigration, affordability, fixing NJ Transit and the recent problems at Newark Liberty International Airport in a debate hosted by NJ PBS and WNYC.