How noisy is the fast train line by the Coulsdon South station and the Brighton Road?

[Fandyman]

Hi,

My wife and I are looking at a house in the area between the busy and fast train line and the Farthing Downs.

Is that area getting noisy from the fast train lines and can you hear Brighton Road?

Is it noisy at night as I can see there are trains passing by frequently throughout the night.

Thanks

Can’t say I’ve lived next to that line but I did live nearby and have traveled on trains on that stretch, the one thing to remember is that it’s in a really deep escarpment (is that the right word?) and the level of the track is much lower than the surrounding land. This may not be apparent by looking at a map.

The surrounding countryside, the north downs us really beautiful, Happy Valley is stunning.

Thank you - I did not realise there is such deep escarpment.

I can see that especially near the Netherlands on the map looking at the street view from the side of Brighton road. It looks to be shielded from the passing train noise.

Yes the surrounding countryside is stunning indeed!

I’d say your best bet would be to just park up and see how bad it was, within an hour or so you’ll get a good idea of how bad it is.

I will say that line is going to be incredibly busy- London to Brighton line, plus the Gatwick express so there will be a lot of traffic on it.

You really need to go and check out that specific house for yourself, spending time there at different times.

I used to live next to a train line and I learnt that while of course the noise level of the train is fixed, how it sounds in different streets completely depends on what else is around, what the sound bounces off etc. It's not always as you think it will be.

I will say that I preferred the train to living on a busy road - different kind of noise, different pitch etc. And the kids grew up watching trains out of the window, which is quite sweet. Railway cuttings are bad for hay fever sufferers though - they don't prune those bad boys.

I grew up next to a very busy line, although in a cutting compared to us. The trains which woke me up were the heavy freights carrying aggregate. It was the vibration not the noise.

if you have a look on real time trains you could see what passes through overnight.

I live a couple of stations up towards EC and can wave at passengers in the trains from DCs beds but having grown up in Heathrow flight path and on another train line it does not bother me. And I think trains are quieter down that way suite to both the dip and the fact that here they're queued waiting to get into East Croydon.

The only pain is when they do overnight works, often over Christmas/Easter but U think in the 16 years we've lived here it's been 2 or 3 times close enough to hear it overnight.

It is a lovely area and houses are still v good value so I'd say go for it (shame about our MP though) :(