NJ Transit and a locomotive engineer’s union are still negotiating with less than a day until a strike deadline. At a press conference Wednesday night, NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri and union officials expressed optimism about a deal being made before midnight.

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

A labor dispute between NJ Transit’s locomotive engineers and the Garden State transit agency’s management threatened to become New Jersey’s first rail strike in more than 40