Help! Perfect house next to railway line

[PinkPomelo]

We have found and reserved our perfect home. Great area, we have one little baby who is 6 months old and it's close to a primary school and has everything you need. It is about 200 feet from the east coast main line and I'm not sure what to do. You get a slower train once or twice an hour, high speed intercity trains once or twice an hour, and the odd freight each day and neighbours said the odd freight about 1am but generally all trains finish about 11pm.

Not concerned about hearing it from inside, but we expect to have windows and doors open a lot and you'll hear jt from the garden. You do have to stop talking a few seconds until it passes.

Google overwhelmingly says you get used to it, but perhaps these are people that didn't mind living next to a railway line when they bought their place. Noises do annoy me! But train noise isn't as bad as cars, other than the freight ones.

Anyone got any experience? It's a 10 year home for us, dh is fine with it so it's on me! Alternative is wait for another build ready in the estate, further from the line. Likely would be more expensive or same price and slightly smaller.

@Remona I've done that and how do I tell what is freight? Is this freight? https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H33102/2024-04-09/detailed

I asked the neighbours they said they stop about 11 the passenger trains and there is the odd freight about 1am. But that website indicates way more. They said they don't even hear trains any more. I'm quite easily annoyed so I just don't know If that'll happen to me.

There are always compromises to be made when buying property, so you just have to decide whether this is one too far.

Yesterday I went by train to my hairdresser who has moved to deepest south London. As the train was speeding through Wandsworth, Balham etc you get a great view of the backs of the properties. You can see from the very expensive side returns, roof terraces, glass kitchen extensions, bi-valve doors etc that some very wealthy people buy flats and houses next to railway lines - and these trains run every few minutes.

Most people wouldn't normally choose to be near railway lines, busy roads, flight paths etc but that's just how it is!

@PinkPomelo Yes, that’s a freight train.

They run day and night. The passenger trains don’t stop at 11pm either but they are much less frequent.

Freight trains are much longer and much slower. They rumble on for a while not like the high speed passenger trains that whizz by.

I use that site for all my train info as it’s so detailed.

I've lived near/next to a railway twice, a dual carriageway and currently a tram line. All of the noise wasn't consciously noticed after a few weeks. The thing is your house is quiet for 95% of the time. Your baby will probably get used to it much sooner. The only house we turned down was a cottage that faced directly onto a main A road where the lorries were literally passing ten feet from the front door.

I would go for the house but then I like railways. Just imagine when the heritage steam trains come through!

I grew up with a busy train line both freight and passenger trains at the bottom of mums garden. There was an embankment between the trains and our house that as a previous poster said attracted wildlife. We didn't notice the trains at all and certainly didn't keep us awake but it's definitely a case of getting used to it as when I played a tape back that I'd filmed of my toddler son playing in my mum's back garden, blimey you could hear the trains .

Are you getting a discount for it being close to the line?

I was just about to write this.

I never got used to the trains though and moved away.

We live a bit further away and only get intercity when they're doing maintenance on the mainline. We don't really notice the regular trains but some of the freight trains can make the house vibrate and can be very long.

My garden literally backed on to a railway line, so the house was probably 20 metres away. I actually really liked living next to a train line because it means the area just in front of the track is like a nature reserve and left alone, which was very welcome in East London

My first property was a flat in London with a railway line at the back of our building.

I would never do that again!

I could feel the vibrations even if my flat did not directly overlook the rail tracks and it was really noisy.

The train horns are horribly disruptive and they always seemed to be doing engineering works.

So it would be a no for me.

Honestly if it's a freight line I'd probably say no. The freights are really long and rumble very heavily and sometimes screech to a stop. They are quite different noise wise than a passenger train and IMHO very much more disturbing especially as they will be in the middle of the night

We had a house that backed onto the railway from Kings Cross to Cambridge. Small garden, then the trains. We didn't notice the noise, the kids didn't seem to be woken by them either (and two of them were dreadful sleepers but they weren't waking when the trains went by!).

Irregular noise - cars, other people's yelling kids etc is a lot worse. One of my neighbours thinks pressure washing everything in sight is a pleasant hobby, and the noise of that drives me nuts, bring back the trains, I'd swap.

But it did take a while to sell.

A friend of mine lives on a small 1970s estate and their house is also about 60-65 metres (200 ft) away from the east coast mainline where all the trains go full speed.

Their back garden is about 20m (65ft) long and then there is about 45m (145 ft) of mature trees and large bushes between their back fence and the railway. I guess it's owned by the railway company.

When I've visited them in the summer and we were outside I didn't really notice anything and she never complained to me about the noise.

In contrast, just on the opposite side of the railway there is a much newer estate that has smaller houses and tiny gardens.

The closest homes there are no more than 25m (80 ft) from the railway and only separated by an embankment. I would imagine they get a lot more noise.

My only suggestion would be to visit the plot if you can and see what separates your garden from the railway.

200ft? I thought you were going to say at the bottom of your garden! You won't notice it after a week.

I grew up 200ft from the east coast main line in Scotland, just didn’t notice it, BUT probably because it was always there. It may be more of an issue if you’re coming to it new

What is pollution from the freigh trains like?

It wouldn't bother me as I like train noise and don't mind traffic etc generally as I grew up in a house on a main road (so your DC will probably not mind it either as it'll be normal for them), but you definitely sound bothered by it so no way would I get it if I were you. It's the perfect house if its in this location and I'd compromise on other things if I was troubled by noise the way you are. Why buy a 10 year house in a spot where there's something so annoying to you?

I wouldn't touch it.

DB bought the end house in a new build estate and the garden is about 20ft from the lines. Slow speeds, but passenger and freight.

The noise is very loud and frequent. They are used to it but I hate visiting as I sleep really really badly every night and it's intrusive when you're outside or have the doors and windows open on any side of the house.

You can't rely on timetables ending at 11pm, they change regularly.

There are a year of major line works are about to start.... And the work will mostly be at night to allow for daytime travel to continue. It's going to be horrific. I've no idea what they'll do, I'd have to move out!

Selling is going to be a major problem tbh, as it's a 12yr old house and the estate is hugely overpriced and over built. It's also a 4 bed which isn't in high demand.

In your shoes, I'd find another place.

Our daughter’s family home backs onto railway line. As a visitor, I barely notice now.

We had a house above the main line along the river ( in central France). You looked out over the line onto the river.

It was much, much less noisy ie disturbing than houses which were near any sort of main road, partly because the sound is always the same ( according to the train type) and because the gaps are very quiet,its not continuous different noises. The birds and other wildlife didn’t seem to mind the trains whereas the roadsides were deserted by them.

We used to love the TGV which came past four times a day, so exciting! ( do I have a boring life?). And we had a little song about the freight trains…..

I grew up fairly close the West Coast Mainline - lots of fast intercity type trains (electric and diesel), commuter trains, freight trains etc, and now I'm miles away from any trains I actually miss it. If you're not used to it I imagine it could be irritating though.

Selling won't be a problem as long as you are willing to price it right.

When properties fail to sell in a timely manner it is often because the price is too ambitious for whatever issues the vendor may face.

It wouldn't bother me, I'm a city girl and don't mind traffic noises. I actually quite like train noises. Where I grew up we could hear the motorway from our back garden, despite being surrounded by fields.

Re the baby - don't train your baby to only sleep in pitch black silent rooms and they'll be fine. Hoover round them, make cups of tea, have conversations etc.

I lived in a flat with a garden onto a train line for 5 years. We couldn't hear the trains from inside despite being quite close so that never bothered us, but I never got used to them in the garden.

Depending on how sensitive to noise you are, and how much more your money gets you there, I might consider it. But if it wasn't a forever home I'd imagine it being hard to sell.

Hi @PinkPomelo was researching this very same predicament and came across your post...so what did you finally decide and how has it panned out for you assuming you bought this property? I'm looking to buy a similar property next to the south coast main line.. house is 30 mts from the slow line and 50 odd mts from the Brighton main line /Gatwick express at the end of the garden. Any tips before I part with money would be helpful!