Notes: In the 1840s two lines where constructed into Liverpool from the north. The first line was from Bury via Bolton and Wigan and this line would ultimately have connections to Manchester providing an alternative route to that offered by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway of 1830. The Bury line was ultimately constructed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The second line came in from Preston and was constructed by the East Lancashire Railway. Both lines met at Walton and then shared a route into Liverpool. On the 20th November 1848 they opened a joint terminus at Great Howard Street. The two companies made uneasy bedfellows and could not even agree on a joint name for the station. The LYR favoured Borough Goal after the nearby prison whilst the ELR favoured Great Howard Street.

This station soon proved inadequate for the heavy traffic that developed and an extension was soon underway to a point right on the edge of the city business district at Tithebarn Street. This new station opened on 13th May 1850 and was known by two names. To the LYR it was Exchange Station and to the ELR it was Tithebarn Street. The new station was

a grand affair that had required the demolition of 540 houses in an area that had become a notorious slum. The station was 25 feet above street level being supported on brick arches. The Station frontage was a two story affair in the ‘Italianate’ style. It was connected to Tithebarn Street by a set of steps. The station had five platforms which were provided with an overall roof for the comfort of passengers. One platform was used for arrivals and two platforms each were allocated to both railway companies for departures. Each company also had its own offices, booking facilities and waiting rooms. With the opening of the station the original terminus at Great Howard Street was developed as a major goods station. On the 1st October 1850 a line from Southport has been connected to the ELY and LYR line north of Sandhills which allowed trains from the seaside town to access the new station providing even more traffic. Although a minor line it grew very quickly as a commuter route with housing development spreading all along its route.

On the 13th August 1859 the ELR and LYR companies amalgamated as the LYR and the Station became known by the LYR name of Liverpool Exchange. By the 1870s traffic had built up to such a degree that further expansion was needed. Widening of the station was sanctioned in 1876 but nothing was done and the situation went from bad to worse. Finally

Work commenced on the new station which opened in part on the 12th December 1886 and completely on 2nd July 1888. In this its final form the Exchange Station consisted of a grand hotel frontage behind which was located a covered ‘cab’ road. Further buildings provided office space, booking and waiting facilities. The station had 10 platform faces protectedfrom the elements by four longitudinal gabled roofs. By this time the station was served by long distance trains running north to Blackpool, The Lake District and Scotland and east to the cotton towns of Lancashire and onwards to Yorkshire. An express service to Manchester competed directly with the CLC who ran out of Liverpool Central and the LNWR who ran out of Liverpool Lime Street. Exchange also catered for an extensive network of commuter services.

On 22nd March 1904 the LYR electrified its Southport Line. This was one of the first main lines to be electrified in Britain and it proved a great success generating even more commuter business. Following this success electrification was extended along the Preston line as far as Aintree on the 3rd December 1906. Over the next few years it would be extended

For decades there had been proposals to link Liverpool’s three termini (Exchange, Central High Level and Lime Street) with an extension to the underground Mersey Railway. Finally work began in the early 1970s on the construction of an underground loop and link line. A new underground Station was built at Moorfields only meters away from the entrance