The signs above the entrance suggest a rather schizophrenic personality since it has Knott Mill Station with Deansgate superimposed on it.  The fact is that it opened as Knott Mill Station on 20 July 1849 by the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway. The name changed to Knott Mill & Deansgate around 1900 and finally to Deansgate in 1971.

Today the station is the railhead for the G-Mex exhibition centre in what used to be Central Station.  A footbridge, built in 1985, connects the station across Whitworth Street West to the G-Mex Metrolink tram stop.  All the platforms are at an elevated level reached by lifts, stairs or ramps.