NJ Transit and an engineers’ union appear to be heading toward a major rail strike that would start Friday — the first one in decades. Currently, both sides are in Washington, D.C. participating in mediation,

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.

NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) are meeting in Washington today to resume the tense negotiations. The union’s members overwhelmingly rejected the first deal in April, and both sides are reportedly far apart on wages.