Fleet railway station

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

Fleet railway station serves the town of Fleet, in Hampshire, England. It is a stop on the South West Main Line, which has four tracks through the station. There are two platforms on the outer pair of tracks: platform 1 is for trains to London Waterloo and platform 2 for Basingstoke and Portsmouth Harbour; the centre pair of tracks have no platforms and are used by through-services.

Fleet
General information
Location	Fleet, District of Hart England
Coordinates	51.291°N 0.831°W / 51.291; -0.831
Grid reference	SU816552
Managed by	South Western Railway
Platforms	2
Tracks	4
Other information
Station code	FLE
Classification	DfT category C2
History
Original company	London and South Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
May 1847	Opened as Fleet Pond
1 July 1869	Renamed Fleet
1904	Resited[1]
Passengers
2019/20	1.708 million
Interchange	11,076
2020/21	0.290 million
Interchange	1,047
2021/22	0.834 million
Interchange	3,877
2022/23	1.091 million
Interchange	451
2023/24	1.277 million
Interchange	605
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station and all trains calling there are operated by South Western Railway. It lies 36 miles 38 chains (58.7 km) from Waterloo^{[note 1]}

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;^[2] the section between Woking and Winchfield opening on 24 September 1838,^[3] 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.^[4] The first station was built on the west side of Minley Road, it was renamed Fleet on 1 July 1869. In 1904 a new larger station was built on the east side when the line was increased to four tracks.^[4]

The buildings were rebuilt in 1969. As of October 2013^[update], 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

South Western Railway operates all services at Fleet. The typical off-peak service per hour is:^[5]

• Two trains each way between Basingstoke and London Waterloo;
• One train each way between Portsmouth Harbour and London Waterloo.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Farnborough (Main)		South Western Railway London to Basingstoke		Winchfield
Farnborough (Main)		South Western Railway London to Poole		Basingstoke

In the news

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.^[6] In October 2010, the baby's then 16 year-old mother was found guilty of infanticide.^[7]

Notes

1. Railways in the United Kingdom historically are measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to one mile.