[3][4] The terminus was constructed further inland than originally planned to avoid the demolition of the Mersey ferries workshop situated on the riverbank.

[5][page needed] To connect with the existing track of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway, a half mile-long tunnel from Woodside to alongside the existing Monks Ferry tunnel entrance, near Grange Lane, was constructed using the cut-and-cover method, with most of its length running under Chester Street.

The latter entrance, covered in a porte-cochere to allow travelling gentry to avoid inclement weather, faced the graving dock on the south side of the station.

That was very unfortunate, as passengers arriving at the station never got to see the huge sandstone fireplaces, decorative brick work and massive timber roof trusses holding up the roof of the intended booking hall, which has been described by Marcus Binney of Save Britain's Heritage as "a station of truly baronial proportions and being worthy of any London terminus".

Birkenhead Woodside served as the terminus for local services to Chester, Helsby, West Kirby, and destinations in north Wales via Ruabon.

Daily, through trains to the Kent coast via Oxford, Reading and Redhill were also available, jointly operated with the Southern Railway.

Long- and medium- distance routes served by the three termini were to be concentrated on Lime Street station.

In March of that year, the route was effectively curtailed at Wolverhampton, as a result of the introduction of electric trains on the West Coast Main Line.