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

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’s bus routes, the agency’s predominate lines in the region, would not be impacted. But rail lines would.