Fleet railway station serves the town of Fleet in Hampshire, England. It is situated on the South West 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.
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. In 1904 a new larger station was built on the east side when the line was increased to four tracks, It was renamed Fleet on 1 July 1869.[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.
1 calls at all station as per the second layout above, minus Clapham Junction. This train is overtaken by the fast train and so should only be used to reach stations up to Surbiton.
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.[5] In October 2010 the baby's then 16 year old mother was found guilty of infanticide.[6]
The two platforms are numbered; Platform 1 is for London-bound trains, Platform 2 is for trains for Basingstoke (and beyond).
Notes
^Railways in the United Kingdom historically are measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to one mile.
^Williams, R.A. (1968). The London & South Western Railway, volume 1: The Formative Years. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 20, 122. ISBN0-7153-4188-X.