The station opened as the original Liverpool terminus of the
Mersey Railway Tunnel in 1886. It is accessed by lifts and these were initially hydraulically operated. There were originally two platforms, on either side of a twin-track tunnel. The Mersey railway tunnel was extended under dry land to in 1892, changing James Street's status to a through station. By this time, there were trains from Liverpool branching from terminating at and stations in
Birkenhead. The line was electrified in 1903. Through trains to and commenced in 1938, when the former
Wirral Railway routes were electrified. In 1941, during the
Liverpool Blitz, the
Luftwaffe bombed the surface building of the station, damaging the then famous James Street hydraulic accumulator tower so badly it required demolition. A new surface building was built in the 1960s. The station was rebuilt in the 1970s, opening in 1977, as a creation of the Merseyrail network. A new single-track tunnel known as the
Loop was constructed being a part of the Wirral Line under Liverpool's city centre. The Loop ran west from the Mersey Railway tunnel via a newly constructed third platform at James Street, then onto , and Liverpool Central, and back to James Street rejoining the Mersey railway tunnel just to the east of the station. The eastern section of the original tunnel between Liverpool Central and James Street is used by the
Northern Line. The remaining western section of the tunnel, which is not used by either the Wirral Line or Northern Line, was retained to provide a connection between the two for moving empty electric trains between depots at and . Of the original two platforms at James Street, only the westbound remains in regular use. Platform 2, the original eastbound platform, is kept in near-original condition and is used only when trains are prevented from using the loop itself. The station and surrounding area were subject to a £2 million package of improvements during 2007–8. Further refurbishment of platforms, concourses and the booking hall were undertaken in 2012–13, as part of a £40 million investment from
Network Rail which saw all Merseyrail underground stations (excluding ) refurbished. Work to improve the little-used platform 2 and the Water Street entrance were completed during 2015. A 16-year-old girl died in an incident at the station in 2011, when a train guard signalled for a train to depart while she was leaning against the train. She died after the movement caused her to fall between the platform edge and the moving train. The following year, the guard was convicted of
manslaughter by gross negligence and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. A subsequent appeal of the sentence was rejected by the
Court of Appeal. ==Station layout==