New Jersey Transit Negotiations to Resume Saturday Afternoon

New Jersey Transit and the union that represents its train drivers will meet on Saturday afternoon, a day earlier than planned, to resume negotiations as the state’s first transit strike in 40 years enters its second day, Kris Kolluri, the agency’s chief executive, said on Saturday.

During a news conference at Newark’s Pennsylvania Station on Saturday morning, Mr. Kolluri said that he planned to meet with representatives from the striking union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, at 1 p.m.

Plans for the meeting came together on Friday night, after the union’s national president requested further negotiations. A pre-existing meeting with the National Mediation Board, the federal agency that coordinates labor relations in the railroad and airline industries, is planned for Sunday.

“We’re going to meet the union today, we’re going to meet them tomorrow, all with this goal of getting to a deal so we can get them back to work, get our customers the reliable service they need,” Mr. Kolluri said at the conference.

The meetings this weekend offer a glimmer of hope for a swift end to the strike. The stoppage has hobbled the transit agency, which operates the nation’s third-largest commuter rail network, stranding thousands of commuters.

The strike officially began at 12:01 a.m. on Friday when the engineers walked out after contract talks stalled between their union and the transit agency. The two sides had been engaged in negotiations for months and, according to Mr. Kolluri, who has been leading the agency’s bargaining team, had been 95 percent of the way to a deal, but reached an impasse on the issue of hisse.