Railway line

[Einevinefine]

I just asked this in another thread but seriously want answers here from hopefully as many people as possible.

Would you move into a house that was close to a railway line? Not just passenger trains but freight too? I’m concerned that this could be an expensive error for relative concerned. It’s a two year old house so trees/bushes are not yet established and houses sit below it (ie rail line is at top). I’m deaf but can “feel” the rumble of freight trains.

Would it be a factor in your thinking if you were ever going to move again? Does it affect price?

Any help much appreciated

I would, depending on the line (eg tubes go by every 1 minute, vs less regular lines).

Especially once you’ve grown a big hedge.

I find with transport - planes, trains etc - you soon get extremely used to it.

The transport I wouldn’t live next to would be a busy road, due to pollution.

I live across the road from railway line and we don't even have trees - just a high concrete wall between railway line and pavement. The station is just down the road so the trains aren't going at speed when they go past, and you can feel the rumbling sometimes, but TBH I hardly notice it. No idea if people factor it into price but some people like the closeness to the station (commuter line into London).

I viewed a house a few weeks ago with a railway line at the end of the garden. The noise put me off completely. Not just for me living there but to sell on in the future.

No I wouldn’t, but that’s just me.

I would love it but I think it would impact on any resale.

I grew up 200 yards from the midland mainline. Forgot it was there most of the time. Only time I really noticed was when they did trash repairs at night.

I live near one, albeit a road, houses and an alleyway between us and I can barely hear them, I would generally view it as a negative though if they are really close.

It wouldn't worry me. I'd rather have a train line at the back of my garden than be overlooked by neighbours.

Well it had such redeeming features like no neighbours maybe.
But if it's just a bog standard 3 bed terrace - with a railway line nearby that's likely to be a negative, so no.

The only positive would be a lower price but you'll pay for that when you come to sell so not worth it IMO. How does the price compare to similar houses?

Grew up next to a railway line didn't bother us at all even the 2am freight

I'd love it and be geeking out all the time, but would make sure the price reflected it so as not to cause problems when selling on.

I quite like the sound of trains so wouldn't put me off. Locally the houses by the rail line seem to sell well and not noticeably different in price to similar houses.

How close are we talking? Could passengers see inside the house? That would be a no for me.
The noise itself never bothered me (grew up close to one)

The trains themselves wouldn't bother me but I wouldn't buy a house that shared a border with Network Rail because they've had huge problems with Japanese Knotweed on their land and are notorious for ignoring it even when it impacts on neighbouring houses.

Thanks everyone for your input so far. It’s my DB who has put an offer on house close (very) close to railway line. I feel he’s making a wrong choice but of course recognise it’s not my decision. I’m worried about it.

We have a commuter line at the end of our garden at a raised level (probably at around first floor). The embankment has a few trees on it which helps with privacy, but I don't think does much for noise. We really don't notice the noise now, particularly with double glazing, but they can be loud with the window open or in the garden. We tend to notice it more in the front, as the sound seems to bounce off the houses on the other side of the road.
The station is 5 minutes up the road which is a definite plus point in commuter land, and probably balances out any negative impact on property value of the line at the end of the garden.
Our trains don't run through the night, and we have a couple of trains each way each hour during the day. We notice it more if the trains aren't running these days.
I wouldn't buy if trains were high speed, more frequent, ran through the night. I would be concerned by freight trains as they can be very loud, especially with heavy loads. We occasionally have goods trains carrying building materials if there are engineering works being carried out nearby and they are definitely much more intrusive.

I have one about 500m away from where I live. You can't really hear the trains unless you listen really hard but you can hear the horns as they sound them when they go over the level crossing. I quite like listening out for them at night - the last ones are at about 10:00 and 10:30. It is not a busy line - most of the trains are small railcar types. The biggest pain is probably the level crossings in the area - I always seem to get to them as trains are coming !

As the pp pointed out, there are train lines and there are train lines.

Freight trains can be very noisy, especially at night and there could be night time engineering works at times. If there is a bridge nearby trains often make much more noise going over them. I would look into it more before going ahead.

Wouldn't bother me, I have lived close (not quite that close) to a 4-track busy main line (WCML) and, like Gaspanic, I rather liked it, especially at night, oddly enough. And we got freight- and heavy freight at that. I really miss it now I'm where there are no tracks. 😕But I'm not you.
I suspect that the higher-speed track I was near would actually have a lot fewer trains per hour than a slow commuter line. But then, commuter trains don't run at night. Electric trains are very quiet engine-wise. It depends on what sounds you don't like and when they would bother you.

Maintenance can be a bit noisy if they are tamping ballast, but they don't do it very often. Maybe 2 or three times in about 30 years we got it every Sat>Sunday night for a few weeks. Hardly a big deal. But again, I just tuned it out and fell asleep.

My observations on noise in general, and I have lived close to motorways and in several cities, is that you can get used to most noise if you are able to just accept it (and I have even lived on a 4-lane London route to the North Circular), but if you become obsessed with any sound, however low, then it will seem louder and louder until you get your own way and move. Only you know what yu can cope with.

I used to rent a house with a railway line for freight at the bottom of the garden, you get used to it very quickly and it was in an area of South London where it was never really going to stop people from buying it.