Should we consider buying houses very very close to Train Tracks?

[BroglieBoy]

Hi All,

Need some guidance.

I came across this lovely property
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133629803#/?channel=RES_BUY on Rightmove and noticed that it is very close to the train tracks.

All Trains running through Wokingham train would pass through this track.
I wouldn't say it is a very busy train track but reasonably busy with trains running every 30 mins.

Is it okay to consider such properties or better to give it a pass as it is too close to the tracks?

1. Will it be too noisy?
2. Will the train movements cause vibrations and therefore issues for the properties such as cracks?
3. Future sellability for such properties?

What are your thoughts?

In my student days I used to live slap bang next to a busy zone 6 station and I never really noticed the trains. I could just zone hem out. It was the alarms when people jumped in front of trains that would sometimes keep me up if they went off in the early hours of the morning but not the trains.

Looking on Google maps it seems to be at least 50m from the train track?

Having lived near the same line, it will be noisy from before 6am, also at night when you get the freight trains.

The rails are at the same level the house so it will be even louder!

Avoid.

I wouldn't care about noise but would worry about pollution levels.

Someone seems to have placed the house pin three houses along. Have a look through the photos instead.

Actually I have considered houses 20m from tracks with massive foliage between, but that house looks to be five metres ish away.

I lived under the final approach route for a big airport for a few years. Notable for lots of 747s coming in at 4/5/6 am. I honestly barely noticed them after a while but visitors were always a bit shocked by it.

i wouldn’t rule it out if everything else was perfect

commuter trains are normally electric

There's no way you'll get this house for £650k. It looks like they've priced it with the location in mind. Wokingham is very desirable and the schools are well known for being good.

Is the Google map pincorrect - ie 2 houses between you and the line? Or can I see railway lines running down the side of the garden?

I think it might actually be the latter, and the price already seems to reflect the proximity to the railway as the other house of that road, still 4 bed, bit more extensive outbuildings, is up for 1.1M.

I’ve lived in two properties close to railway lines, and it was never a problem.

Lived on a moderately (car traffic) busy road once and that was all kinds of hell.

It's also on the Heathrow flightpath and on one of the rat runs when the A329 is blocked 😢

The Rifle used to be an OK pub but a long walk into Wokingham centre.

We had a house with a trainline at the bottom.of the garden, but it was a very deep cutting so barely noticed - other than when they were doing work to the line when it was disruptive (2 or 3 nights of LOUD overnight work).

This house looks as though the line runs along the side of the house, so you would be completely overlooked by passengers? Plus you have the traffic lights/bridge to contend with every time you went in or out of your drive....so it would be a hard no from me at that price!

Freight trains are a PITA at night, passenger trains are less bothersome. I have lived by train tracks twice, I wouldn’t be keen as that track is raised. Both times tracks have been close but at the end of the garden, people could see in to the garden too much for me.

Me too. We live on the edge of town now and I miss it.

We used to live near a train track. We didn't notice the noise after a while. We did have to push objects further back on shelves now and then as they'd clearly been vibrated to the front over time lol.

So the pin is wrong? I thought from people's comments on here that it must be closer but I can't see the track on the photos. Perhaps I would if I got my glasses!

It's Reading - Gatwick and Reading - Waterloo I think. It's pretty busy but the trains are slowing to get into the station so they're not whizzing past

I'd go and have a look from the train I think

I have a cat, so it would be a firm no for me. Also, cat recues won't allow you to home a cat if you live close to a train line. Just letting you know in case this impacts your decision. I love having cats so wouldn't want to be close to a train line (or a busy road for that matter).

Yep. Pin shows three houses away, it's actually next to it. If you go to the photos, picture two, use your fingers to zoom the picture in, on the right hand side. House, space for one car to the right, red fence, bank leading to elevated rail line.

I would pay MORE to live near a train line. My Grandma had a line right at the end of her garden, probably 15m from her kitchen and I adored it. Falling asleep to the rhythmic sound of passing trains is one of my most comforting and fondest childhood memories. They aren't noticeable most of the time as you get used to it but ohhhhhh I'd pay to sleep in that house and hear those trains one last time. I did it for the last time last year, the night before her funeral and that gentle ch ch ch ch took me right back.

Our family home has trains running across the bottom of the garden every 15 mins. I lived there for 25 years and mum still lives there after 50+ years. Mum, Dad, myself and my 2 sibling have never really noticed the trains. If we are sitting in the garden it's quite a relaxing background sound and bizarrely we only notice occasionally if the trains AREN'T running. When we were kids we loved it standing on the fence waving at the passing trains - very Railway children!

It wouldn't bother me but then I grew up with concorde taking off from the runway at the bottom of our road.

I’ve lived that close before and barely heard it. The only time I really noticed it was when I was getting ready for bed and heard the last train but there was something quite nice about it!

Wow, I never realised there are so many who love living next to train tracks.

Yes, I agree looking for £650 is way too optimistic. However, at the current interest rates, there aren't many buyers out there for big properties.

We plan to visit the house next week to view it. Though the house looks lovely and comes with a very large massive garden and two outbuildings plus in the catchment of good schools it is still sitting on the market without any offers.

so we want to try our luck by putting in a cheeky offer if we like the property 😀

Absolutely not.