Tell me about living next to a railway line...

[Gravenwithdiamonds]

Is it a really bad idea? It's a busy commuter line (not intercity) and the house is very close to it. I can't stand traffic noise/planes but trains don't bother me - I think. Am I kidding myself? Are there any other downsides? The ea has made it very clear that it's very close to the railway, obviously expecting it to put people off - the house is a bargain for its size and location.

We haven't seen it yet so not sure just how loud the trains are (they will be frequent,perhaps 6 an hour?)

I've lived near/next to railway lines a couple of times.

As a student I lived in a flat that was only a few metres away. The noise annoyed me at first, but after a while you don't even notice it. My current house is fairly close. We can hear the trains if we're quiet and the windows are open or if we're in the garden. We can't see them though.

I think for me it would bother me more if I could see them constantly. I viewed a house that was next to the line, which was raised. The view from the back of the house was hideous because of it.

You also need to consider the fact that other people will be put off by the railway line, which may make it harder when you come to sell. If I were you I'd view it. With trains that often it's likely one will go past while you're there.

I lived next to a commuter line into London for 12 years and I can honestly say that the trains did not bother me one bit. In fact I stopped noticing them, even when I was in the garden. We were totally non-overlooked, and you couldn't even see into the garden from the trains very easily - I used to get the train to London every day and used to try to look into DS1's bedroom window. I would totally choose a railway line over a busy road (which I am about to move to).

The downside was that it did take a bit longer to sell than it would have done, and sometimes late at night you could feel the vibrations from the cargo trains rumbling past.

I live rather close to a railway line (it is at the bottom of the opposite neighbour's garden iyswim) and it is fine. It is a main line but I never get bothered by the noise - in fact I find the sound of the trains rather soothing. I never even notice the freight trains any more.

The only thing which was a bit tiresome was when they renewed the line - 2 weeks of work all night, which was really noisy. But that happens very rarely (only happened once in ten years here).

I am lucky in that I am nowhere near a main road so have no road noise. I used to live on a main road and the noise of the cars and lorries all the time was really dispiriting. I would never live on a main road again, but wouldn't think twice about moving near a railway line.

We lived next to a railway line for 4 years in our flat. It was only metres away. It was a freight line only so trains not that often. First night there I thought I would never sleep again but after a few days I never noticed.

I would buy near a railway line again but would do a visit when the trains are due to see how bad it was.....can you still hear the telly?

Also maybe ask the surveyor to check for any damage from vibrations...cracks in the brick work etc?

Yes, I am a bit concerned about subsidence/vibrations etc though the trains probably don't go that fast as they are approaching a station. It looks like the house and garden are well-screened by trees - will definitely check that.

We currently live on a busy road with planes overhead - I really don't think I will mind teains by comparison but we will see... There must be a reason why it hasn't sold immediately because it is a bargain for the area.

MIL has a railway line at the end of her garden - noise isn't really an issue at all (and hers is a mainline route into London, so quite busy) Freight trains are noisier, but infrequent. We're in lowrise flats with a busy line about 100yds away (it actually goes under the hill we're on) I rarely hear anything - sometimes late night ones when our bedroom window is open, and there's a massive freight train that runs at midday on a Tuesday, that makes the block vibrate (it's a very odd feeling!) - but train noise is quite soothing, more a rumble than anything intrusive.

We have a railway at the bottom of our garden. We don't notice them, tbh, apart from once a year when they send a bit stone cleaning monster down the track at about 2am, which scared the bejeezus out of me the first year. Guests notice them if they are in the garden, but that's not a big problem.
The up side is, we were able to afford a MUCH bigger house than we otherwise could have afforded, and, for the 9 yrs we've lived here so far, the advantages of that have DEFINITELY outweighted any perceived disadvantages.

Whilst I thought I was totally used to the noise and that it didn't bother me when I lived close to a railway line, I did realise after a while that the reason I always woke at 6.03 was that that was the time the first train went past! I thought it was fluke until I had to wait ages for a train one day and the only thing to read was the timetable. I usually went back to sleep but it was slightly annoying.

If there is a station near by, check when through trains sound their hooter as they can be LOUD

Lived backing onto a line in London once - the noise was OK - usually a rather relaxing rumble. But I never got used to the feeling - the vibrations always felt as though you were being shaken awake.

Been living with a railway line at the bottom of the garden for nearly a year now. It's mostly fine but when it's been hot and windows all open I find it more difficult to sleep (quite a lot of freight trains at night) and I can't listen to the radio as the trains every 10-15mins in the day block it out as they pass. Plus side is not having houses overlooking the back garden and looking out on to sky (and the huge buddleias on the other side of the embankment). In this part of London that is quite rare.

It's not as bad as I feared and allowed us to buy a bigger house than otherwise but next time we move I hope we are on neither main road nor railway...

Op mentioned the house being screened by trees. Be careful as we accepted to rent a flat that was near the railway (brighton mainline)during the summer months but come winter you lose about 70% of that screen with the leaf fall . I was rather wary about the train noise before viewing and I think I would not have accepted the flat if I could see them.

Depending on how close you are; we are about 50yds, we increase the volume on tv if windows are open.

However on a more positive note, bf was very impressed by the massive rail grinder and ballast cleaner doing their thing.

Yes, good point about the trees in winter and also about not being overlooked (we are very overlooked where we are here, more privacy would be nice).

OTOH, DC3 (aaged 3) will be over the moon if he can see/hear trains from his bedroom.

We are on a mainline. Our garden is 120', and we have some big trees at the bottom of the garden.

We really don't mind it. There are trains every 10-15 minutes, but we barely hear them. They never wake us when they start up in the morning.

We are quite happy to have the security of the railway line and big barbed wire fence.

The worst thing is the level crossing at the end of our street.

Check there is not a vehicle access point near the property - this is where the track maintenance teams access the track to work on it. There will be a lane and a locked gate and a do not trespass on the railway sign. If there is, depending on the route and the distance to other access points, this may be used frequently 12-5am as this is how vehicles for maintenance will access and track patrollers will be dropped off. You may have vehicles coming and going at night.

As other poster have said you may get some maintenance noise but not that often. The track will be renewed and/ or the rails replaced every 10 yrs or more. The stones will be tamped once or twice a year (the track is lifted and a machine shoogles the stones aka ballast about). This is noisy but doesn't last long. The track will be foot patrolled or landrover patrolled every couple of weeks but this should be noise free, they may tighten the odd bolt or so.

You may find the day time trains are okay, but the heavy freight trains are the ones you notice.

I lived opposite a railway line for 5 years. It was in a cutting so we couldn't see the trains. It was an electric line (less noise as lighter than diesels) and we felt a slight rumble in the house, but only if you tried to notice it at the right time iyswim.

I agree with what Mia Mia said. I will add that even if some of those engineering machines like tampers(about twice a year) will be noisy, they can only be used for a short time bse they have to hand back the track before first commuter/ freight train comes through so it does not last long.

Good point about the having the security and not being overlooked.

We've lived cheek by jowl to a railway before, and would always do so again rather than eg a busy road.

Main thing to consider is re-sale: it will have a more limited appeal, so might take longer to sell or go for a lower price than the same house elsewhere. Think carefully before spending lots of £££s doing big work on it, in case you hit a ceiling (eg a stamp duty threshold) and are unlikely to get it back. (Same advice as any house, but more so for an unusual purchase)

We have a railway line at the end of our garden, and I honestly don't notice now apart from when it's a freight train which are noisier. It's completely screened BT tall thick trees though, but I like the fact that we are not over looked and that people aren't walking down there!

Before we bought the house we went to view it quite a few times at different times of day so we could hear what the trains were like at different times.

We have one at the bottom of the garden and rarely notice it when indoors, even when the windows are open.

Interestingly, we have friends on our road (but with no track down the garden) who are more disturbed by the noise. It's about he direction the noise travels. The track is below ground level at ours, iykwim, but at their end of the road it's ground level and the sound carries.

By not BT!

I lived in Putney on teh railway line and the worst thing was frieght movements in the night - the trains were FAR louder, older and more rattly than the daytime trains and they'd stop and start and stop and start all bloody night.
I have no idea how you'd find out if your line is used by frieght overnight.

should that be freight? i think maybe it should, but i have never been very good with my 'i before e except after c' as there are too many bloody exceptions

I lived almost in top of an intercity train line, just before the London terminal. Oddly I quite liked it. Dd was a baby there and the trains soothed her to sleep. Trains don't run all night so never disturbed our sleep. The only problem was in the summer when we had the windows open, we sometimes couldn't hear ourselves talking, or the tv. We had regular track maintenance and that is REALLY quite because no work gets done, I know, I watched for two years! Christmas ws the best when there was obviously triple pay, sooo many others but not much work getting done.

Saying all that, we moved somewhere peaceful and I love it here too.Although ibhzve discovered I have tinnitus, maybe I had it for years but just couldn't ever hear it above the din, I don't know.

My best friend had a train track at the bottom of her garden, it was 10 years before I realised. Same train line as the one I lived on, just the suburban part of it.

I'd say go and view the house a few times, but try not to " listen" for the noise , as ivthink if you activly listen for it you will hear it.

Oh I am so glad to read this thread! I have just bought a house with a railway line that is quite near the end of the garden behind some trees. I've gone down there on about 6 different occasions now to listen for the trains! It doesn't seem bad to me and at the moment I live next to a busy road so am used to a bit of noise.

Freight

I did note the windows don't seem to be double-glazed, whcih i think is quite encouraging as I would imagine that homes really troubled by noise (eg, under flight paths, like ours...) would be double-glazed, no?

Very much same as above. We are a cul de sac away from a mainline track. Barely notice it. It is a rather reassuring noise in the early hours at times, but a bit eerie when they are doing big works on the line, usually overnight.
I would just consider resale price though.