More than 50,000 GO Transit bus passengers have been advised to make alternative travel plans to get to work Monday as a midnight bus strike looms.

Metrolinx and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587 have been trying to hammer out a deal all weekend at a hotel in Mississauga.

If a settlement is not reached by midnight more than 1,850 GO drivers, station staff, maintenance personnel and transit safety officers could walk off the job.

As of 8 p.m. negotiations were still taking place, according to Anne Marie Aikins, spokesperson for Metrolinx.

Metrolinx is encouraging customers to consider alternative travel options such as taking local transit, bicycling, carpooling, working from home or adjusting their working hours to non-peak transit times.

GO train service is not expected to be affected by the strike, but there will be no weekend train service to Niagara and Barrie.

"There won't be any train cancellations (in the event of a strike), our non-unionized staff will keep the stations open, sell tickets, that sort of thing, but we are expecting extra customers on the trains because there will be 53,000 people looking for rides," said Aikins.

The transit agency is also asking people to find alternative ways to reach their local GO stations because parking will be at a premium with more people trying to get on trains.

If a deal is not reached it would be the first bus strike in GO's 47-year history. Metrolinx says it will post updates on the situation online at www.gotransit.com.

GO bus drivers earn between $25.56 and $31.32 an hour. Station attendants are paid $22.73 to $28.26; transit safety officers $31.77 to $36.28.

A phone call to the union was not returned Sunday evening.