A WOMAN has been charged with stealing a backpack at a Sydney train station that contained the ashes of another woman's dead mother.

But a police search of the alleged thief's property has failed to locate the ashes.

A blue zip-up bag was snatched between 6pm and 6.30pm on June 26 after a 21-year-old woman left it outside Central Station's baggage checking office while she went inside.

The bag contained several personal items, including a blue container with the recently cremated ashes of her mother, as well as an engraved gold watch, which is a family heirloom.

Following the release of CCTV footage on Thursday showing two potential suspects, police attended a unit at Wollstonecraft, in Sydney's north, on Sunday morning.

A 39-year-old woman was issued a field court attendance for larceny and is due to appear at North Sydney Local Court on August 13.

A search was carried out at the property but the backpack and ashes were not found.

Investigations are continuing.