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.

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

The penthouse views mentioned by union members refers to NJ Transit’s new offices at Gateway Center in Newark, leased for 25 years at a cost of $500 million. It has been a rallying point for union criticism that the agency has money to move from a building they own, but not to provide a competitive wage for engineers.

If the engineers do walk off the job, the agency plans to increase bus service, saying it would add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.

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,

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,