RUNCORN will be one of only two stops made by Virgin express trains travelling between Liverpool and London in a bid to make journeys faster.

From 2009, the majority of West Coast services will only stop at Run-corn and Stafford en-route to Euston station.

A new service running from Liverpool Lime Street to Euston is also being planned, to be run by a different operator to Virgin, making more stops.

It will average 60mph, while the Virgin trains will be able to travel at 135mph as a result of the £7.6 billion upgrade to the west coast mainline, due to be completed in 2008.

Details of the new plans are revealed in the Department of Transport's official review of the West Coast route, which links London to the Midlands, North West and Scotland.

The report also gives the go-ahead for Virgin to double the number of services between Liverpool Lime Street, running half-hourly during peak times, and London.

That plan also sees a proposal by Virgin to increase the number of services between Chester and London from five to 12.

Current travelling times between Euston and Lime Street are around 2hrs 30mins.

A spokesman for the DfT said: 'The 2009 timetable will bring a significant further acceleration and will dedicate more capacity for the market as the number of intermediate calls on the Liverpool journey will be reduced from five to two, Runcorn and Stafford, with a regular journey time of approximately 2hrs 8mins.

'The other calls currently made will be transferred to extra services on other routes from elsewhere in the country.'