At last a glimmer of hope on our railways.

While it will not save commuters from more misery this week and probably in the near future that fact that both Southern and the RMT are talking today is a huge positive against a backdrop of an increasingly rancorous dispute.

We have said right from the start that both management and unions have shown that they do not care for paying customers in what has seen at times like a fight to the death.

Add in government insouciance and the crisis was inevitable.

That was yesterday. Today both sides need to be practicable, put aside enmity and find solutions.

As with all such long disputes it will the fine detail that will matter and as importantly, finding a way to let both sides emerge claiming victory of sorts.

At times it has seemed as simple as disagreement over who would be pushing a button to close doors and allow a train to depart, bewildering for those of us on the outside.

Union concerns about safety issues appear to have been covered with management promises that all will get safety training.

With a huge number of trains in the region already running without conductors in some senses the horse has bolted for the unions.

On the other hand busy commuter trains, as opposed to short distance lines like the capital’s DLR, need some sort of customer service operative on the train.

Compromise is the order of the day. Both sides owe us that.