Transport Secretary Mark Harper has said there is a "deal to be done" to avert mass rail strikes in the build-up to Christmas.
His remark came after a crunch meeting today with the RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch, who also described talks as "positive".
The union chief said Mr Harper had "got rid of the bellicose nonsense" of ex-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps in the long-running dispute.
But he stressed that rail walkouts are still planned for December - potentially causing misery for millions of commuters in the week before Christmas.
Asked on Thursday whether the strikes would be called off, Mr Lynch said workers are "once bitten twice shy".
A fortnight ago the union suspended industrial action to hold eleventh-hour talks with the network operators, but no breakthrough was reached.
He said members would not forgive him if he called off strikes before a "tangible outcome" was achieved - saying: "If we call off strikes we won't get a settlement."
"We've not had a strike for seven weeks and nothing's happened."
Speaking outside the Department for Transport in central London, Mr Lynch told reporters: "There's been ample time for this lot to get their act together... and they've done nothing."
Following the meeting, Mr Harper described talks as "constructive" and said there was an "honest conversation about the serious challenges facing the railways".
“We have common ground - we both want the dispute to end and we both want a thriving railway which delivers for passengers and workers alike."
He added: "There is a deal to be done, and I believe we will get there – I want to facilitate the RMT and the employers to reach an agreement and end the dispute for the benefit of the travelling public.”
The Secretary of State is also expected to write to Mr Lynch later today.
Mr Lynch said the talks were positive following months of stalemate, but said: "I've learned as a negotiator there's a big difference between what comes out of the mouth and what gets written with the pen."
Mr Lynch added: "Six months we've negotiated and we've had not one document put across our table. That needs to change."
But on an optimistic note he stated: "I would say it was a positive meeting in that we've got rid of the bellicose nonsense we had under (former Transport Secretary) Grant Shapps."
He said he had grown frustrated in ongoing discussions with rail networks, and said the government must help facilitate an end to the dispute.
Mr Lynch said the Transport Secretary has told him he will "consider" setting up a liaison group at ministerial level - so rail companies and trade unions can speak with them about reaching a settlement.
The union boss said there are ongoing questions about whether the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) even has the authority to be involved in negotiations.
"At the moment, we've even got doubt about the authority of people we're speaking to, the Rail Delivery Group, and they are telling us they have no authority to negotiate, they do not have a mandate, and they've even put legal challenges to us as to whether they can negotiate at all," the RMT chief told reporters.
"So we've got a situation where 14 train operating companies are telling us they can't negotiate, and so is their industry group. So I've asked him to set out in writing and clarify what the authority of these people is."
Rail staff will stage a series of 48-hour walkouts in December and January in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, the RMT union announced.
More than 40,000 RMT members across Network Rail and 14 train companies will take strike action on December 13, 14, 16 and 17 and on January 3, 4, 6 and 7.
There will also be an overtime ban across the railways from December 18 until January 2, meaning industrial action will last for four weeks.
This morning a Tory MP called on the government to consider cancelling engineering works on railway lines around the period when strikes are expected to avoid a "double whammy".
Greg Smith called on ministers to look "at ways in which we can prevent a double whammy by cancelling planned engineering works over that period in the interests of rail passengers".
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said: "I shall certainly write and put that in front of the Secretary of State for Transport. We want to do everything that we can to ensure that the travelling public, and especially those that are completely reliant on rail services, can travel.
"What we really need is some legislation to ensure minimum standards so the travelling public are not disrupted as they currently are. We are doing that. I hope the Opposition will support it."
