Chatswood railway station

Chatswood is a railway station on the North Shore and Sydney Metro Northwest railway lines. It serves the suburb of Chatswood. The station consists of 2 islands (forming 4 platforms) and is accessed from Victoria Avenue. Chatswood is serviced by T1 North Shore and Metro North West line trains in both directions. Located within access of the station is Chatswood Bus Interchange, Willoughby City Council, Westfield Chatswood and Chatswood Chase shopping centres.

Chatswood is staffed 24 hours everyday.

History
Chatswood station opened on 1 January 1890 when the North Shore line opened from Hornsby to St Leonards. An island platform was built on 23 May 1900 and a third dock platform brought into use on 12 July 1919. There was a small goods yard, similar to the one at St Leonards, on the western side of the station, beyond the northern end of the platforms. The dock platform on the eastern side of the station was used for electric parcel-van traffic and also for terminating some services from the city, until these were rescheduled to terminate further along the North Shore line from January 1992. It was removed in October 1994. Until 1958 there was a tram terminus in Victoria Avenue beside the station. The station entrance was later integrated with a shopping centre called The Interchange in the mid-1980s.

With the construction of the Epping-Chatswood Rail Link (ECRL), it was decided to redevelop the station to accommodate Chatswood's new role as a junction station. The original station, as well as the attached bus interchange and shopping centre were demolished in 2005 and a temporary station was opened where the former platform 3 was located. A new western island platform opened in place of the original island platform on 16 October 2006. The eastern island platform opened in 2008. The original signal cabin that was located at the northern end of the station building has been preserved as part of the bus interchange below the station.

The new station precinct is known as the Chatswood Transport Interchange (CTI) and consists of the railway station, a bus interchange and pedestrian pathways connecting the precinct to the surrounding streets. The CTI was constructed as a Public Private Partnership and was to include a new shopping plaza called Metro Chatswood and three towers. The private developers, CRI Chatswood, went into receivership whilst construction was underway. As a result, the shopping centre remained closed until 2014 and major construction of the towers was delayed for several years.

In the early hours of 30 September 2018, the ECRL was closed, reopening as Sydney Metro Northwest on 26 May 2019. The former ECRL platforms at Chatswood (2-3) now serve as terminating platforms for the Metro North West Line. They will become through platforms in 2024, when Sydney Metro City & Southwest opens.

Configuration
Chatswood station sits in the heart of Chatswood, within the major shopping district and bus interchange. The station is located on an elevated section above Victoria Avenue and The Interchange. Station entry is provided by a series of pedestrian walkways at three different intersections: Victoria Avenue and Railway Street, Chatswood Mall and Orchard Road, and Post Office Lane and Victor Street. Additional pedestrian entrances are available from Chatswood Central Plaza, adjacent to the north side of the station concourse. Chatswood is one of a few stations on the Sydney Trains network to utilise taller jump-proof Opal card gates, designed to prevent fare evasion, and allow passengers to get to the platforms faster. Access to the platforms is provided by two sets of stairs, escalators and lifts.

The station consists of two island platforms, numbered 1-2 and 3-4. The two inner platforms, 2 and 3, are served by Sydney Metro. Metro trains first drop off on platform 2, then proceed into the turnback just south of the station, turn around and crossover to pick up from platform 3. The two outer platforms are used by Sydney Trains' T1 and T9 services. Platform 1 faces the Up North Shore line, while platform 4 faces the down line.

Station signage is coloured for the according transport mode, with platforms 1 and 4 using the standard orange Sydney Trains station signage, while 2 and 3 use the new Sydney Metro teal signage.

Located below the station and further up Victoria Avenue is the Chatswood Bus Interchange. Services are operated by Keolis Downer, Busways, Forest Coach Lines, Transdev and Hillsbus.