Cats and railways, is this an issue?

[purplemunkey]

FTB, currently looking at houses. Seen a lovely one which has a railway line at the end of the 90' garden. We have a cat and I'm wondering whether this would be a risk? She doesn't tend to wander too far and I'd imagine she'd stick the our own and neighbouring gardens - but would a nearby railway line concern you?

The potential noise doesn't bother me that much, and hopefully we'd hear when passing when viewing to see how noisy it is.

Is there any fencing in between?

Yes, a fence and a footpath for rear pedestrian access I believe.

Or do you mean fencing by the railway? If so, I'm not sure as we haven't viewed it yet.

My sisters house backs into a railway line in a new build estate plenty of cats wondering about.

There's a railway line behind my house but there's 2 sets of fencing between our house and the line I.e. our back garden, then our back fence, a strip of land with grass and trees and then a metal fence before the embankment down to the railway line

Yes, by the railway, they often have very good fencing (put up by Network Rail) that would keep your cat away from it. If not, then yes I would consider it a risk if it has direct access. You can also look into cat proofing your garden with a fence top netting system (look up Protectapet or Sanctuary SOS, I also know people have done a cheaper DIY version using the same principle).

P.s. forgot to say I have 2 cats

Thanks all. The fencing by the railway itself is definitely something I'll look at if we view. Trying to persuade DH to look at the mo. House itself is perfect but no off street parking, which we have currently in our rental. I park on that road for one if DCs regular hobbies and it can get busy but I'm always there when tonnes of other parents are doing the same so I'm thinking it may be fine outside of that time.

It's a Victorian terrace. How are those sound wise does anyone know? Maybe that's a different thread...

The road at the front of the house is equally if not more dangerous surly and pretty much most people live on a road?

One of my cats got hit by a car on a 30mph side street.

It wasn't anywhere near where we lived.

You can't prevent these things by where you live so a railway wouldn't worry me

Cats are pretty sensible, and trains don't have a habit of suddenly accelerating or swerving. It's probably safer than having a road at the end of the garden.

Sounds like the road is more of a worry - especially if it's very busy with distracted drivers.

For what it's worth, I'd really think about the parking. My MIL works for the council, and could inform us which roads had parking issues, and houses in those streets have far higher turnover than those with parking. If you're only planning on a couple of years, fine, but if you want a longer term prospect, we expanded our boundaries to include properties with parking.

Terraced houses in general are the safest option for cats IF you are really strict about never allowing them out at the front.

Victorian terraced not always great for sound proofing, to answer your other question. I'm lucky to have quiet neighbours but I can occasionally hear them coughing or having loud conversations etc.

It's not a busy road in the sense of heavy traffic. It's a quiet road in that sense. It has a church and adjoining hall at one end if the road that is used for various classes. It has a car park but that can get filled up fairly quickly so people park on the road instead. This house is at the other end of the road so generally a but quieter, but with no off street parking it's 'busy' in terms of the number of cars parking on street if that makes sense.

Thanks for the note on sound proofing - another thing to look/listen out for at viewing.

I'd check the train timetables for the number of trains going, especially overnight. If it's electric they're a lot quieter, but regardless you'll soon get used to it - we''re not far from the line and don't hear it.