An apparent train track rescue has ended in tragedy for two people in northern Sydney.

A woman, aged in her 30s, was being assisted off the tracks at Berowra by a man, aged in his 20s, when they were both hit by a freight train about midnight on Friday, police said.

The deadly incident reportedly followed an argument between the pair, while they were on the station platform.

There are multiple reports the man threw an item belonging to the woman onto the tracks. She had jumped down to retrieve it when he saw the train approaching.

He apparently jumped down to save the woman, but both were hit by the train.

The pair were treated by paramedics but died at the scene.

They have not been formally identified but are believed to have been known to each other.

A friend of the pair, Jack, paid his respects at the station later on Friday.

“[It’s] horrid, I can’t work and just… got to go hug your family and hug your friends you know, cause you don’t know how long they’re gonna be there for,” he told Sky News Australia.

“[They were] good people. Good, beautiful people. They never did anything wrong to anyone.”

Police say they have CCTV from the platform and the circumstances of the incident are being investigated.

Rail services between Hornsby and Gosford were suspended for about two hours following the deadly accident. They have since re-opened.

– with AAP