Hawkesbury River railway station

History

The station opened on 7 April 1887 initially as Hawkesbury River, although the station boards apparently carried the name Flat Rock. Timetables in 1889 showed Brooklyn, but in 1890 the name reverted to Hawkesbury River.

In 1891 the station name was truncated to Hawkesbury, before the final name change back to Hawkesbury River in October 1906. Reflecting the confusion in the timetables, the station was known locally as Peats Ferry, Flat Rock, and Brooklyn in the early years, depending on whom one spoke to.

Hawkesbury River became a popular destination for day trippers and fishermen, outstripping the capacity of the original timber platform building. This was replaced in 1903 with the current brick building, which is of the type that had recently been adopted as the standard construction for island platforms.

In 1987, the station featured in Jimmy Barnes' music-video song Still On Your Side from his album Freight Train Heart.

A southbound passing loop exists to the east of the station. Immediately south of the station in the 8.6 kilometre Cowan Bank.

River Wharf Platform

Associated with the Hawkesbury River railway station is the now defunct River Wharf railway station. This was located on the eastern end of Long Island, across the causeway linking Long Island with the mainland and was in use from at least 15 August 1887. River Wharf was the terminus of the northern line until the first Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge opened in 1889. During its operation, trains would disgorge passengers and goods here for transfer to the General Gordon paddle steamer.

They would then be transported out into Broken Bay and up to Woy Woy station from where they would rejoin a train for their onward journey north. This inconvenience was alleviated somewhat when the Woy Woy railway tunnel was opened and the line extended south to another defunct platform named Mullet Creek, that was in the general vicinity of the present day Wondabyne station, in January 1889, as this meant the General Gordon only had to cross the Hawkesbury River and travel up Mullet Creek a few kilometres.

The down platform is still extant on Long Island, although the wharf and other infrastructure associated with the station is long gone.

Platforms & services

Hawkesbury River has one island platform with two sides. It is serviced by NSW TrainLink Central Coast & Newcastle Line services travelling from Sydney to Hamilton (Newcastle).

Transport links

Transdev NSW operates one bus route via Hawkesbury River station: