The station derives its name from the adjacent Piazza del Principe (In Italian literally "plaza of the prince"), located next to the Palazzo del Principe (literally "palace of the prince") adjacent to the street called Via Andrea Doria in the Fassolo neighbourhood.

In 1900, an increase in rail traffic led to the building of an extension of the station to a design by the engineer Giacomo Radini Tedeschi.

During the Second World War, in common with other Italian railway stations, the roof covering the tracks was dismantled to extract its metal.

Access to the underground station can be reached either via the escalators in the main station building or from an area located near the Genoa Maritime Terminal (Italian: Stazione marittima di Genova) between the streets of Piazza del Principe, Via Fanti d'Italia and Via Bersaglieri d'Italia, where there is an interchange between rail, bus and metro.

The station is served by the following service(s): Around the station are the termini of several bus lines of the Genoa public transport undertaking (Azienda Mobilità e Trasporti, AMT), the Ferrovia Principe-Granarolo rack railway and the Ascensore Castello d'Albertis-Montegalletto lift and has an hourly bus connection with the airport via the Christopher Columbus Volabus service.