Cowan railway station

Cowan is a station on the Main Northern railway line, serving the small village of the same name just north of Sydney. It is served by NSW TrainLink intercity Central Coast & Newcastle Line trains.

History
Cowan station opened in 1890. The station was originally the limit of suburban train services to the north, however suburban services now terminate at Berowra, one stop to the south.

Cowan was briefly marked with short platform code SP on timetables in 2011, meaning to ask the guard which carriage to travel in. The CityRail website had different information, showing " When boarding or alighting at this station, please travel in the front 4 cars when travelling towards Sydney or the rear 4 cars when travelling towards Gosford and Newcastle. " It has since been changed back to SP4.

Configuration
Cowan has two side platforms, both of which are marked as short platforms, with platform 1 being slightly longer. Passengers must alight from the rear 4 cars on 8 car trains.

Additionally, Cowan also has a passing loop and two short sidings on the east side. There are several rarely used crossovers allowing trains to enter the loop/sidings, to traverse the Cowan-Boronia bidirectional section on the opposite track or to terminate on either platform. The loading gauge also changes north of Cowan. Trains in the wide width classification cannot pass this point.

Services
The station is served by all stops services on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line. These services are usually hourly in both directions, with additional services during the peak.

Cowan was formerly the northern boundary between suburban and intercity services, however this has since been moved one station south to Berowra.