[1] Garston Dock station had opened in 1852 as the terminus of the St Helens Canal and Railway Company's line from Warrington.

The act of Parliament for this line had also given the company rights to construct a deepwater dock on the River Mersey at Garston, extending the early St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway further down the Mersey to a better and less tidal port.

The extensive civil engineering works needed meant that construction took nearly ten years, opening on 2 March 1874.

[6][7] Although the line had been built through mostly open countryside, Liverpool's southern suburbs began to develop and expand along the line around this time, making it an important commuter route into Central station, the most central of Liverpool's three major termini.

Although Central was always a busy station, it was scheduled for closure under the Beeching Axe, services to Central from Warrington and beyond Garston being re-routed around the Allerton Curve, the L&NWR Speke to Edge Hill line,[1] and into Lime Street instead.