Fleet railway station serves the town of

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada *Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. It is situated on the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south we ...

, 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 Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. The centre pair of tracks have no platforms and are used by through-services. The station, and all trains calling there, are operated by South Western Railway. It is from WaterlooRailways in the United Kingdom historically are measured in miles and

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

s. There are 80 chains to one mile. and is situated between and stations.

History

The railway line through Fleet was built by the London & Southampton Railway, which was renamed the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

(LSWR) in 1839; the section between and opening on 24 September 1838, but at that time, Fleet did not have a railway station. A station, originally named Fleet Pond (after

Fleet Pond Fleet Pond is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Fleet in Hampshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve. This large and shallow lake, fed by Fleet Brook,Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map is surrounded by reed beds, alder carr and oak ...

) was opened in May 1847. 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. In 1906, the station was expanded again as the station became busier as Fleet's population grew. The buildings were rebuilt in 1969. 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: *3 trains per hour (tph) to

, of which: **1 calls at Farnborough Main and

Clapham Junction Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea. Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances durin ...

, taking 41 minutes. **1 calls at Farnborough Main, Brookwood,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

and Clapham Junction, taking 56 minutes. **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. *2 tph terminating at

, calling at

Winchfield Winchfield is a small village in the Hart (district), Hart District of Hampshire in the South-East of England. It is situated south-west of Hartley Wintney, east of Basingstoke, north-east of Odiham and west of London. It is connected to Lon ...

and

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

and taking 20 minutes. *1 tph to

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, calling at Basingstoke,

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, Shawford,

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

, Southampton Airport Parkway, Southampton Central, Totton, Ashurst New Forest,

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

, Sway,

New Milton New Milton is a market town in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymington and Christchurch, 6 miles (10 km) away. History Ne ...

Hinton Admiral Hinton Admiral is the estate and ancestral home of the Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick family and located in the settlement of Hinton, near Bransgore in Hampshire, England. It is a Grade I Listed building. The walled gardens to the north of the house and ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Pokesdown Pokesdown is a suburb of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. It lies just east of Boscombe and west of Southbourne. History Evidence of human occupation in the area dates back to the Bronze Age. In 1909 when Lock's Field was being developed into wha ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, Branksome and

Parkstone Parkstone is an area of Poole, Dorset. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone - "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in local parlance - is so-called because it is largely on higher ground slightly to the north of t ...

, taking 2 hours 36 minutes. This train should only be used for stations to Ashurst New Forest, Sway and Hinton Admiral. Brockenhurst, New Milton, Christchurch, Pokesdown, Bournemouth and Poole can be reached faster by changing at Southampton Central. Branksome and Parkstone can be reached faster by changing at Brockenhurst. On Sundays this becomes: *1 tph to London, calling at Farnborough Main, Brookwood, Woking, Surbiton,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

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. In October 2010 the baby's then 16 year old mother was found guilty of infanticide. The two platforms are numbered; Platform 1 is for London-bound trains, Platform 2 is for trains for Basingstoke (and beyond).

Notes

References

External links

{{SWT Stations, Weymouth=y, SWML Local=y, IL None=y Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in Hampshire DfT Category C2 stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Railway stations served by South Western Railway 1847 establishments in England Fleet, Hart