ScotRail and the train drivers' union Aslef are to return to talks this week in the ongoing dispute over pay.
About 700 daily services were cut on Monday after the train operator issued a temporary timetable to cope with driver shortages.
Aslef said informal talks would take place today, ahead of formal negotiations on Thursday. Drivers have refused to work overtime and on rest days, after the union rejected a 2.2% pay offer.
Both sides had been in deadlock after the union said it was balloting members for strike action over the pay offer.
The RMT union, whose members include other railway workers who have been balloted over strike action, will also be part of the talks.
Business chiefs have described ScotRail's reduced timetable as a "hammer blow" for companies across the north and north-east, as well as for their staff and customers.
Commuters can't travel between Aberdeen and Inverness from shortly after 6pm, and services from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Dundee and Aberdeen are also affected.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce policy adviser Fergus Mutch said: "These measures effectively leave Aberdeen stranded - completely cut off by rail from early evening.
"It's bad news for commuters, for visitors to the region as peak tourist season starts and a hammer blow for restaurants, pubs and cultural venues who are only just beginning to recover after the pandemic.
"The economic cost will depend on how long new timetable is in place. But, if we're facing tens of millions of pounds in potential losses within the local economy, then before too long that means an impact on jobs.
"We want to see ScotRail and the unions round the table with a view to agreeing a swift solution which puts passengers and businesses first.
"The longer this situation drags on, the more harm it causes and the more it sets back economic recovery."
Aslef's Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay told the BBC: "I need somebody from ScotRail or Transport Scotland to come along with the authority to make a deal so we can move forward because this is damaging Scotland's economy.
"I appreciate other sectors and other workers may not be on the same salaries or may not be making the same demands, but this isn't a race to the bottom - my job is to protect the terms and conditions of train drivers.
"Train drivers are telling me quite clearly they are looking for a sensible settlement that we can actually move forward on to deliver for the passengers of Scotland."
Mr Lindsay said he had also written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon asking her to provide "positive political intervention" in bringing the recently-nationalised train operator back to talks.
ScotRail's original summer 2022 timetable had about 2,150 weekday services. This has now been reduced to 1,456 in the temporary timetable. The changes also mean the last train on many routes departs before 8pm.
A typical ScotRail driver salary is more than £50,000. With drivers being offered a 2.2% pay rise and the opportunity to participate in a revenue share arrangement, the Scottish Government says this would take the total package to 5%.
ScotRail's service delivery director David Simpson told the BBC that the operator was "always open to negotiation".