Governor Phil Murphy said Wednesday night that he's "hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst" regarding a possible NJ Transit rail strike.

NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri said the two sides have had “constructive” meetings this week in Newark and in Washington D.C.

In 2016, an agreement was announced in the final hours before a March 11 strike deadline was set by all of NJ Transit’s 15 rail unions.

NJ Transit is already preparing for the walkout by urging as many people as possible to start working from home.

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.

With a little more than 24 hours before the deadline set for a potential rail strike, both the leader of the union representing hundreds of engineers and NJ Transit’s CEO expressed optimism Wednesday evening about reaching a deal.

With a strike looming as soon as Friday, officials of NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers met with the National Mediation Board on Monday in Washington. No agreement was reached. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri thanked the board for convening the meeting in a statement,