House next to railway track

[stevalnamechanger]

What are the pros and cons

Found the dream house but it's next to a railway line .. 😩😩🙁🙁

Any thoughts ?!

How busy is it? my flat is next to the line out of an outer London station but it is only one line in, one line out and I hardly notice them. My ex had a flat near a London terminal and it was awful.

I'm not really sure how best to find that out ... I only viewed it today and we are being pressured to offer as usual !

Will do some googling

Which was the terminal ?

Surely you use Trainline to see whether it's a one an hour service or a two trains every five mins service

I think it was Kings Cross or Euston. Trains to Scotland, anyway. On the plus side, we didn't need an alarm clock with the train clanking past. 🙄

Noise level depends if the line in a cutting or on embankment, fast line or stopping slow service, proximity to station or crossing. You do get some dust and particulate pollution, and may get rubbish and vermin from the tracks. We did not back on but were across the road from those that did , and got used to the noise quickly. Engineering work can be noisy.

I do! 2 trains per hour. Honestly you stop hearing it. I like the city though plus it's great for when we do need to travel. And the street is very well lit. Would do it again

DP has a cottage next to 2 railway lines (front and back!). I honestly don't notice them anymore - you just kind of tune them out. And they are reasonably busy lines but because it's close to the station they aren't going at any great speed. The freight trains are the worst as they are soooooo long. It wouldn't suit me at all, but I don't live there.

For me the real No would be because I'd be paranoid about my dogs accidentally getting out and onto the line.

We lived next to a railway line when I was growing up. I think it was a couple of big, fast intercity trains an hour and a couple of local slower ones. The big ones used to rattle the house! But like pp said, you stop hearing it. A busy road, or fast country roads with motorbikes are worse in my opinion.

I grew up with a railway line at the end of our back garden (it's in a cutting below the level of the garden and it's a decent length garden). When we first moved there it was only a goods line and whilst the trains were long and quite noisy they were relatively infrequent. Now there's some passenger services used it but they're still only a couple an hour and they're small trains.
I also lived about 200m from a mainline railway station and I'd say that was noisier as you got the sound of the trains accelerating out of the station.
On the whole though, i don't notice it because i've obviously grown up with it. Try and sleep near traffic noise though and I've no chance!

I lived across the road from the Eurotunnel line - I didn't mind it - but then there was a rule that the heavy freight trucks couldn't run overnight. The 6am one did make the bed shake though, which was handy.

It was also behind two sound absorbing fences. I stopped noticing them TBH.

Never again. Ever. We've just moved and the peace and quiet and not being on edge from train noise are priceless. If you do offer, offer low.

I've twice lived next to railway lines and it never bothered me. It was actually quite comforting, although not sure why.

However.... there will be some people out there who wouldn't like it which might might the property more difficult to sell, so bear that in mind.

The trainline won't help you. You're better off looking on realtimetrains and doing a detailed search which will show freight and non stopping trains, if applicable, too. I'd also get on google maps and see if you can make out anything in the way of railway features - signals, whistle boards/speed boards (these will be hard to see but you might get lucky), junctions etc. Also crossings (more likely to be whistle boards if there are foot crossings, though depends on sighting). How far away from the station is it?

There are lots of variables and without more info it's really hard to say.

I lived next to a mainline railway line next to a station for 20 years. The noise never bothered me, in fact I quite liked it, especially the sound of trains in the distance.

Maintenance works can be noisy, but Network Rail usually give plenty of notice of coming works.

Check you aren't next to a 'W' board - this is the point where trains sound their horn.

Be very, very cautious about buying if you have pets. Although Network Rail are normally responsible for fence maintenance, there can still be gaps where a cat or dog can slip out.

Security wise you should be fine, unless anyone trespasses on the line to get to your house (unlikely).

Perhaps look up train times on RealTime Trains and go there at a time when trains are passing, to get an idea of noise.

Does the garden back onto the train line, or is the house the other side of the road. We lived on a house the other side of the road and the train line never bothered me at all. Very very busy station in a commuter town for London. However I imagine if our garden had been on the side of the tracks it would have been more annoying/noticeable

Yes! I love hearing them go by when I'm in bed, sort of like the world is carrying on as it should. Far nicer than road noise too. You honestly stop noticing it very quickly - I have to pay attention to hear them now. And means we aren't overlooked at all - the line is down an embankment at the bottom of our garden, so we have very open views.

My nerdy husband would love to live near a railway line. 🙄

I lived next to a train line for a year. My bed vibrated every hour on the hour through the night (not in a good way) horrendous.

My aunt lives right next to a railway line in a rickety old wooden house in Japan. The first night I stay with her I am always woken up at 4:30 am with the first train. I always think it’s a massive earthquake and the house will fall down on me. By the second night I sleep through. It’s fun to sit on the balcony and watch the trains and all the people go by. If you like the house, go for it.

Our garden backs on to the railway, I honestly don't really notice it anymore, although we are very close to the station so the trains are usually slow.

We have a railway line at the bottom of our 160' garden.

We really don't register the trains unless they are the lovely steam ones heading to Ascot or the coast.

The worst thing is the level crossing at the bottom of our street. When I leave the house, I can turn either way, so it's not an issue then. When I come back, I might get trapped - probably 50% of the time max.

When I retire I'm going to buy a lovely old station masters house, on a railway line with steam trains, have a lovely cottage garden, a ginger cat & a black spaniel.

<wakes up>

id be following all the above advice! I LOVE trains & hearing them clatter past, fab!! I do not like some other aspects so would look into it carefully.

why don't you say which station & someone might be able to help.

I grew up very close to the midland main line. You barely notice it. Only time I did was when they did track maintenance work which is very noisy. I live near a branch line and again barely know it's there.

Ooh yes it's a right treat when a steam train goes past 🚂