Do you live in a house near a railway line?

[Wigeon]

If you live in a house near a railway line, how much does the noise bother you? Selling our house and just looked at a house less than 150m away from the town's main railway line, with regular trains passing. There are trees between the house and the line, but it did seem pretty noisy in the garden (and in the house if the windows were open). There's also a main road nearby with a constant hum of traffic. But the house itself was really lovely and ticks pretty much all our boxes!

Do you just get used to it? Or does it both you, especially at night, or in the summer if you are trying to enjoy your garden?

I live near one too.

Like others, you don't notice after a while. They stop at night so really they are like an alarm clock in the morning!

I comfort myself it is more environmentally friendly than a motorway! Check the route perhaps to find which line it is and how many there are.

I live close to a tube/dlr station. Most the time I tune out the noise.
When I just wake up I hear the trains but they don't stop me sleeping or anything.

However when the wind is the wrong way the station announcements are really jarring and wake me up.

My 30' garden backs on to the railway line, and it doesn't bother me.
It is a branch line, and the trains are fairly slow, and are only about once every 20 minutes. I barely notice them
If it was a mainline, I wouldn't live here as it would be far too noisy.

I used to live in house by a railway line. One side of the road backed onto the railway and the other side (ours) backed onto a dual carriageway. I honestly didn't mind/notice the noise. We had noise cancelling windows and the glass was ridiculously thick. So that helped.

We didn't have children at the time though and I slept a lot better back then!

The most annoying thing about the house was that the local hospital was on the other side of the dual carriageway. We regularly had people using our road (and driveways!) as a hospital car park.

Used to live in a house backing on to a railway. Not an issue and I’m sensitive to noise. People who bought didn’t mind. Would choose that every time over a main road. The embankment is great for butterflies, bird life, foxes, bees, if you like that sort of thing.

Yep. I rarely notice it. Unless they sound their horn later on In the evening. But I don't really care.

I live near a railway line. It's a couple of streets away but I can see the trains from my upstairs window. The line is high up so the noise really travels. Does it bother me? Yes. I'm very noise sensitive. But would it stop me buying the house again? No. It is not an offensive noise like a busy road. But unlike the rest of my family, I don't think I'll ever not notice it.

Yes it is. Only poem I remember from school. Such a lovely phrase

When I was a child we lived in a house that had a railway line that basically went through the (large) garden. Probably about 30 or so meters from the back door. My father’s kitchen garden and a paddock were on the other side, accessed by a level crossing. This was (and still is) the mainline from Manchester to London, so very busy. You get totally used to the noise, though the goods trains, that ran at night used to make the house shake and the windows rattle for 10 minutes or longer.

Biggest downside was that pets frequently got run over, as the house had a couple of paddocks that could not be adequately fenced. We lost cats, dogs and a pony (a storm had brought a tree down onto the fence and the pony escaped onto the line).

I never got used to using the level crossing, though you could tell when the high speed trains were approaching by the vibrations of the rails.

So in conclusion, noise no problem, everything else a bit shit.

The train isn't a problem, honestly. The traffic noise is a pain in the arse though and I've never got used to that! (Lockdowm was amazing BTW- no cars or lorries - bliss!)

We have a railway line about 100 metres away from us, moved here quite recently and I love it! Used to live on a "desirable " but busy suburban road and I love being near the railway line way more.

Agree with others! I grew up with a railway cutting behind the back garden. Now live with a tube line behind our house, over the road. Just get used to them and barely hear them.

The only thing is if you're not used to it it can be a shock.

We live right next to a train line (There's one other house and some trees between us and the tracks) and although we can hear it, it doesn't bother us. I can hear it from my garden and I can hear it in the house if our windows are open but you get used to it really quickly. If you're used to city living, I think it's comparable to that! It just becomes one other ambient noise that you tune out.

Much preferable to any other urban noise I think - I find train sounds oddly comforting. I've lived in three houses very close to stations, and our current house is about 250 metres away from one. We can only hear the trains very occasionally in the garden when the wind's in a certain direction. The only house I've rejected on the basis of train noise was a cottage with a ten foot yard backing directly onto a busy SW London commuter line - that felt a bit too close for comfort.

I live by a train line in to London, there’s one every 15 mins. I only hear them at night when it’s the industrial trains and this will sound weird but I find it a comfort.

This post has triggered some thoughts about the railway we lived by as a kid. Zone 5 trains in to London so very busy.

we used to get robbers running up the line! On a fairly regular basis, maybe once a year? Very random.

I have lived both near a main Trainline and near a busy road. I didn’t mind the train at all, it was noisy, but intermittent and genuinely stopped noticing it. Busy road though is a constant hum and I never got used to that and wouldn’t live anywhere with traffic noise. Although lots of people do, it must depend upon how you react. I get irritated at next door leaving their car running.

You really do get used to it.
I live in a house that is close to a railway line and you can also hear the hum of the A1 in the background. It’s just background noise and doesn’t bother me at all. I think the road noise would bother me more if I lived closer as in some parts of my town it feels quite intrusive.
I’ve just looked on rightmove and found a house for sale down the road from me - it has pegs trees and backs into the railway line and I wonder if it’s the one you looked at - small chance I know!

*big trees not peg trees!

The only time it's a problem is when they work on the line at night, especially in the summer when the windows are open. We are also concerned because East West Rail is coming through our town with prospect of 2 extra tracks and more freight.

You get used to it.
Yes, if you back on to the line, you notice them passing if you are in the garden (not in the house, it is just 'background), but it isn't a problem.
Over the years, I've been quite surprised just how many people are envious of us being able to watch the trains.
It is of course convenient living close to a station.
Mainly though, the house is priced to acknowledge the line being there, so we were able to buy a much bigger house than we otherwise would have been.

We have a train line at the bottom of our garden. It’s a low use dead end line though so we get around 4 trains per hour - 2 each way - and none overnight. No freight as it’s just a local line going to the next town and terminating there. I don’t notice the noise much at all.

We had trains at the bottom of the garden when first married together with the South Circular Road in the front I rather liked it especially holding the baby and waving to the passengers. We quickly got used to the noise.

I live next door but 1 to the East Coast main line. Trains every 5 mins, big intercity jobbies. Windows are open all the time and we never notice the noise. We are semi rural with no roads at all apart from access( we are a dead end) and surrounded by fields, so that compensates for the noise.
I will say if its a main trainline there will be works and maintenance at least 2-3 nights a year. This is INCREDIBLY loud, with huge lights, and drilling and the loudest engines you have ever heard. Its impossible to sleep through, but you will usually get notice it is going to happen so you can camp elsewhere if needed.

I used to live close to a small local station with slow trains, fast trains, and trains with 40-50 carriages of stone chippings rumbling through which made the building rattle. None of this bothered me. As pps have said overnight track maintenance is a pain but was only a couple of times a year. It never kept me awake but I'd have nightmares about being attacked by rogue JCBs.
Also had the local church bonging away every 15 minutes day and night. Thought I'd never get used to it but slept like a log the 2nd night.