By plane

The town is suitably placed between the North West's two main international airports, Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Manchester International Airport. Both are easily accessible via the road and rail networks.

By train

Runcorn has two rail stations.

Runcorn station, operated by Virgin Trains, is situated in western Runcorn, near the Old Town and Runcorn-Widnes Bridge. The station was refurbished in 2010 and boasts a small-shop, two waiting rooms (one on each side of the station, which has two platforms, one of which is raised), two elevators and a first class lounge. It is one of the major stops on the West Coast Mainline, serving as the penultimate or antipenultimate stop before Liverpool Lime Street, depending on the service; services to Liverpool are operated alternately by Virgin Trains and London Midland. London Midland services stop at Liverpool South Parkway, whereas Virgin services head straight for Liverpool Lime Street, a journey which takes around 20 minutes. Both services are hourly, and so there are four trains an hour running through Runcorn. Platform 1 services come from Liverpool Lime Street and head for Birmingham New Street or London Euston stations. Platform 2 services come from London Euston and Birmingham New Street and head for Liverpool Lime Street.

By car

Runcorn benefits considerably from a highly developed transportation network. To the south of the town runs the M56, the M6 runs to the east and the M62 runs to the north across the banks of the River Mersey and neighbouring town of Widnes.

By bus

Runcorn, as a new town, was designed with a purpose in mind. Although uniquely Runcorn served as the hotbed for many experiments, one of the main ones was focused on the creation and maintainence of a distinct network of roads separate from those available for use by the general motoring public and sanctioned exclusively for the use of public transport (excluding both public and private hire taxis) and the emergency services. Every suburb/estate is served by at least one stop on the network. Although the network is less prominent in the older sections of Runcorn that existed prior to the construction of the new town, they are still served.

By boat

The town has two canal systems. The Manchester Ship Canal runs between the town and the River Mersey and is not open to non-commercial traffic. The Bridgewater Canal, a much smaller canal, is open to public use and is used my many canal boats. There are two canal boat docks in Runcorn. Waterloo Junction is the main dock and is situated at the western end of the Bridgewater Canal where the canal system was filled in during the construction of the Runcorn-Widnes Bridge. The second dock is a privately owned ship yard located further west upstream and can be accessed by road via Halton Road.