Live near a railway line?

[MrsWhirly]

Hi all,

We’ve seen a nice property we like, however a railway line runs along the back - basically where gardens end.

The house is a short walk from the station, which is nice but not sure how much it would bother me. Any experienced would be appreciated. Thank you.

Such helpful advice - thank you all.

Me and the kids are going to do like trainspotters and go up and down the line a few times to see how overlooked we are!

I lived in an Edwardian house with a train line at the end of a 100ft garden for a few years. It was a four trains an hour each way into Liverpool St line.

I did get used to it and it was really convenient as I was a three minute walk from the station.

It really didn't bother me at that time in my life (20s), one of my cats didn't come out from under a bed for three weeks when we moved in!

It was on a steep bank, so almost the same height as the first floor bedrooms.

I wouldn't have been able to afford the house otherwise, the other side of the road commanded 10-15% more because they didn't have the railway behind them.

It was much more preferable than living on a rural A road, have done that as well and I would never do it again whereas I wouldn't rule out living near a railway line again if I had to.

Hi, I have lived near to train lines on two occasions, both of them in Italy. Are used to live right behind the Campo di marte station in Florence, which had quite big trains going through at all hours. I am an insomniac and up during the night a lot so that didn't bother me, and thankfully I just learn to sleep through the noise. But there was always dust in the house on both occasions. You had to constantly clean. It was very convenient to get to the station though as it was just down the road and the staff canteen was open to the public, meals were under €10 and you had pasta, meat and a dessert and water plus your starter. I didn't cook at the time so I found this very convenient and easy.

We used to have a railway line at the end of our (very small) garden, but higher up & never noticed the trains at all. There were 6 trains an hour (I think) and freight trains too. It was never a problem. In fact, whilst typing this, I've realised we still live very close to the same railway line & never hear anything apart from occasionally at night if I'm still awake. I'd forgotten we were still so close!

My brother has a train line at the end of his garden. 100 foot long. Even sat in the garden - halfway down you don't notice the trains- except the daily steam one which sounds lovely. The station which is s commuter one to London and Birmingham is about 500 yards away. Again not noticeable.

It wouldn't bother me with a couple of caveats. If the station is the end of the line, what happens there - is there a depot or do trains return to a depot elsewhere empty stock/get stabled in the platforms and crew taxied to and from for start/end of service? What's near the house in terms of signals, whistle boards and level crossings?

It sounds like freight might be minimal, if you're at the end of the line - depending on what that is, of course.

I'd spend some time on realtimetrains (go to detailed view to see empty stock trains and freight as well as passenger services) seeing what the early and late services are like, plus I'd try and do the trip a few times and see what happens on approach to the station. For example, do the trains always come down to a red signal and stop, then pull away again? If so, where is that signal compared to your house?

I've lived near to a railway line before and found it comforting and not disruptive in the slightest. We can hear it sometimes in this house too, but that's more horns from movements on the depot, plus occasional normal running sounds. I'd be cautious about living too close to some of the lines round here, as the depot shunts mean that parts of those lines are used (very intermittently) all night.

We have a tram line at the bottom of garden, they are frequent but not very loud. Hardly notice them at all. When we lived near a suburban railway line it was the same, except you occasionally get woken up by ballast tamping in the night!

There is a train line at the bottom of my estate and quite a few houses have gardens that back directly onto it. I can't hear it from my house but I've been in houses down that end and it shakes the houses. It is a main line though and has a mixture of quite high speed trains, but also freight trains that sit stationary with their engines running. Apparently you get used to it, but night maintenance can be problematic when they floodlight it and bang and crash about. Also I know someone who has cats who have come to grief on it. It wouldn't be for me I'm afraid.

I also lived beside a railway line. I didn't much like it. I invested in interior glazing which worked well but not during hot weather when I needed the windows open.
The worst thing was the freight trains - there was only one a night on average but the entire house rattler and vibrated.

I would stay clear (sorry).

I used to have exactly this set up, on a London commuter line.

It was absolutely fine, and I actually got to quite like it. I didn't notice it 90% of the time.

I don't like big or sudden noises - but trains are a very calm noise... Clackety-clack clackety-clack. No revving of engines or sirens. You hear them coming from a mile away so the sound's not jarring.

The line is about 150m away with maybe 2 trains an hour and maybe half a dozen at night - I don't hear them at night but I know the sleeper comes through.

I'll take trains over a road any day.

I live beside a railway line; it's about 50ft from the house up an embankment at first floor level. It's not a particularly busy line.

Pros:
The feeling of space. With the lack of road that side, we feel like we're living in the countryside rather than the city; foxes, owls, woodpeckers, hedgehogs all use the line as a corridor and sometimes hang out in our garden.
The noise is less intrusive than a main road; trees on the embankment mean we are not overlooked and while there's a regular 3am heavy freight train that rattles the house I don't find it intrusive...in fact in the early baby days I used to like hearing it pass to tell the time! (Baby is now a toddler and isn't disturbed by train noise at all)

Cons:
The sycamores along the line drop their seeds into our garden like nobody's business
The line is sometimes used as a getaway route by local tea leafs and police helicopters are not unknown...and the odd crim hopping our fence on their way from a robbery. Good times!

I lived on a busy line and found it quite charming, it certainly added character but there was a problem with rats on the embankment and they would some times make their way into our kitchen in the winter.

We are on a London commuter line. Trains every 20 mins and station 5 mins walk away, so similar to you. The trains are pulling in or out of the station so are slow and relatively quiet. The line is a lot lower than the garden & down a tree filled embankment so we don’t see the trains from anywhere. It’s probably about a 100ft garden but we regularly sit at that end of the garden. Of course we can hear them but we got used to it very quickly and although I was initially quite concerned it turns out to be a noise that really doesn’t bother me. It last about 3 seconds and I bet I actually hear 3 a day as I’m used to it.
This house ticked a lot of boxes so the train line wasn’t a deal breaker. The houses on the Trainline side sell for the same as the other side - probably because it’s the sunnier side. That’d be worth you looking at. I’d rather a Trainline than a north facing garden. Also houses here don’t come up that often so people seem to live alongside the line happily for years and years. It seems people move in with young families and stay well into retirement. So the Trainline can’t be so bad.

We back onto a tube station with a passing network rail service. So in the peak about one tram every 5 minutes. We’ve grown high bushes and plants along the back fence to increase privacy and the noise doesn’t bother us at all. Both of our children slept through it and now can sleep through most noises. We do like the security aspect as to get into our garden they’d have to get over two sets of tracks.

I live approx 100m from the Paddington to Penzance main line. Can barely see the trains when trees are in leaf, they are not frequent, and noise is not a problem. Got used to it very quickly. Far less disturbing than random irregular car noise. No regrets at all

Handy if close to station.

Not so good if people use your road as a free car-park and park badly.

Not so good if Diesel engine revved every Sunday night for 1 hour right next to bedroom window, or goods trains etc. trundle past at night.

About 30m away in this house. It's at the end of the garden but down in a cutting. It does beep going one way as there is a foot crossing just along and they warn pedestrians.

Previous 2 houses were on the road against the railway line - first one again slightly higher but probably only 10m max away and the house would shake with the high speed trains!

2nd house probably 100m away from the sidings on the same level - no shaking but a much busier line next to the station so more noise.