The grandly-appointed station opened on 13 May 1850, replacing an earlier temporary station at Great Howard Street further north up the track. The station was designed by John Hawkshaw. The station had two names because the joint owners could not agree on a name. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) named the station Liverpool Exchange Station with the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) naming the station Liverpool Tithebarn Street. From 1 October 1850 trains of the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway (LCSR) began to run into Exchange/Tithebarn Street station with three companies using the terminus. The LCSR became part of the LYR on 14 June 1855. On 13 August 1859, the LYR absorbed the ELR, from which date the name of the station was Liverpool Exchange.