Media centre

Tuesday 3 Mar 2020

Over 1,000 tonnes of tarmac laid to improve Fleet station car park

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

Network Rail has laid down 1,100 tonnes of new tarmac to completely re-surface Fleet station car park improving the facility for passengers.

The car park - which covers an area of 3,850 square metres - has an improved drainage system to aid water run-off, new crash barriers installed to protect the railway line that runs alongside the car park and a designated pedestrian route that runs down to the adjacent nature reserve.

Previously, passengers had to park on an uneven surface which was prone to mud and rain.

Work took place between 15 and 23 February with contractors working around the clock to coincide with the school half-term holidays, reducing the impact on passengers.

Workers faced several challenges during the upgrade including restricted headroom in the car park (requiring special machinery), the arrival of storm Dennis and the adjacent site of special scientific interest, Fleet Pond.

However, due to the hard work of teams on site, improvements to the car park were completed 24 hours ahead of schedule.

Mark Killick, Network Rail Wessex route director, said: “The resurfacing work at Fleet car park will make travelling to and from the station much easier, and the improvements provide a much better experience for passengers.

“We’d like to thank station users for their patience while this work took place.”

Christian Neill, Deputy Director of Customer Experience at South Western Railway, said: “We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst Network Rail completed the resurfacing work at Fleet station.

"Further improvements are in the pipeline as we complete the station’s new £800k cycle hub, adding more than 200 extra spaces for customers to park their bikes.”