Fleet railway station

Fleet railway station serves the town of Fleet in Hampshire, England. It is situated on the South Western Main Line, which has four tracks through the station. There are two platforms on the outer pair of tracks, which are served by trains between London Waterloo and Basingstoke and Southampton. The centre pair of tracks have no platforms and are used by through-services.

This article is about the station in Hampshire. For the closed station in Lincolnshire, see Fleet railway station (Lincolnshire).

Fleet
Location
PlaceFleet
Local authorityDistrict of Hart
Coordinates51.291°N 0.831°W / 51.291; -0.831
Grid referenceSU816552
Operations
Station codeFLE
Managed bySouth Western Railway
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryC2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 1.814 million
2015/16 1.896 million
2016/17 1.888 million
2017/18 1.816 million
2018/19 1.884 million
– Interchange  12,208
History
Original companyLondon and South Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and South Western Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
May 1847Opened as Fleet Pond
1 July 1869Renamed Fleet
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Fleet from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station, and all trains calling there, are operated by South Western Railway. It is 36 miles 38 chains (58.7 km) from Waterloo[note 1] and is situated between Farnborough (Main) and Winchfield stations.

History

The railway line through Fleet was built by the London & Southampton Railway, which was renamed the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1839;[1] the section between Woking and Winchfield opening on 24 September 1838,[2] but at that time, Fleet did not have a railway station. A station, originally named Fleet Pond (after Fleet Pond) was opened in May 1847.[3] It was built on the opposite side of Minley Road as it is today. When the line was increased to four tracks, the station was rebuilt on its current site. At the time however, the station saw very little use and there were even proposals to close the station. It was renamed Fleet on 1 July 1869.[3]

In 1906, the station was expanded again as the station became busier as Fleet's population grew. The buildings were rebuilt in 1969. As of October 2013 work was under way to replace the station buildings and deck the southern car park to provide an extra 150 spaces. The new station building and footbridge were opened in July 2014 with the former lattice footbridge removed overnight on 23/24 July.

Services

The current Monday-Saturday off-peak service is:

On Sundays this becomes:

  • 1 tph to London, calling at Farnborough Main, Brookwood, Woking, Surbiton, Wimbledon and Clapham Junction, taking 1 hour 7 minutes. (When returning from London passengers should ensure they are in the front part of the train.)
  • 1 tph to Basingstoke as above, taking 17 minutes.

Miscellaneous

In May 2010, the body of a newborn baby girl was found abandoned in a rubbish bin at the station. A murder investigation was opened based upon the baby's injuries.[4]

The two platforms are numbered; Platform 1 is for London-bound trains, Platform 2 is for trains for Basingstoke (and beyond).

Notes
  1. Railways in the United Kingdom historically are measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to one mile.
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References
  1. Williams, R.A. (1968). The London & South Western Railway, volume 1: The Formative Years. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 20, 122. ISBN 0-7153-4188-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Williams 1968, p. 38
  3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 97. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. "Dead baby left at Hampshire railway station". BBC News. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Farnborough (Main)   South Western Railway
London to Basingstoke		   Winchfield
Farnborough (Main)   South Western Railway
London to Poole		   Basingstoke
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