Engineers at New Jersey Transit are poised to go on strike one minute after midnight Friday morning, a stoppage that would create huge problems for100,000 daily train commuters, businesses across the New York metropolitan area as well as fans of Shakira and Beyoncé,

New Jersey Transit is urging riders to reach their destinations or risk being stranded. The warning comes as talks continued Thursday in a bid to avert a rail strike by train engineers that would affect some 350,

The union that represents the engineers who drive New Jersey Transit’s commuter trains has threatened a walkout as soon as Friday if a contract deal is not reached.