Would you buy a house that backs onto railway ..

[Locationvshousevsgarden]

Just that really! Looking to love and finally found something we like but the railway is 6 metres away from back garden boundary... mature trees but you still hear and can see a train every 20 mins. I am not sure so looking for advice... do you live in a similar house? Do you regret it? Would you buy a house backing on railway ? Help !

I wouldn’t.

I had a weekend stay at a friends next to a busy track, the day trains were no issue, as other people have said it’s the overnight freight trains that made the whole house shake and woke me up 3 times each night. I was on the side of the house away from the track as well. Didn’t bother them at all though

also check what’s in the surrounding area. This was a new build but had some sort of recycling centre near it. Sounded like 50 foot washing machines had bricks in them 6 days a week

Freight trains don't run everywhere, and in many cases don't run overnight anyway. Much of the railway only carries passenger trains, which are generally much quieter than freight trains. Electric trains are also quieter than diesels.

I had a house close to a busy line. After a while we didn't notice the trains

When I lived in London a guest mentioned they were finding the planes overhead intense ... I had lived there for years and never noticed we were under a flight path - but after that comment I noticed all the time. It's really how you feel about it not others.

My parents bought a house which backs on the to the main line out of Paddington. It also has a freight line running alongside it. You would hear the trains, but you got used to them and it didn’t bother us growing up. When you first move in it can seem loud but you quickly get used to it. When I first started to have sleepovers at friends houses, I used to miss the sound of the trains at night

You do get used to them, don't you? We used to live opposite our parish church which rang a brief peal of bells every quarter hour day and night (not any more - people these days are so picky!). Our visitors would look bleary-eyed for their first day or two with us.
(Done by the clock not over-zealous bell-ringers!😁)

i’m in London so we do get plane notice most of the time at a low level. I have to say when I was in Windsor for a bit I did find the planes there pretty intrusive.

I grew up right under the Heathrow flightpath. Only Concorde was particularly noticeable.

perhaps you got used to it then.
We used to run out to the garden when we heard a concorde.

My house backs onto a railway - the line is right behind the fence. Trains every 30 minutes or so during the day, none overnight. During the summer we get a steam train a couple of days a week.
Almost never notice them - sometimes we can sit in the garden all afternoon and then wonder if the trains have stopped running because we haven't heard any!
Much prefer the trains to traffic noise. Been here 30 years.

That's it, most things you get used to and blend into the background.

Back to the original post, railway lines generate much less pollution and noise than roads, and I'd take a railway line next to my house rather than a busy road any day.

Your garden is stunning!! The house we are looking at is very similar to this size garden except with hedges at back. I just want to be able to enjoy sitting in it without thinking have we made the rogh4 choice and this post has helped greatly!

I personally wouldn’t but I do like travelling by train and seeing into back gardens and seeing the different renovations people have done to the back of their houses. Some back gardens can be really grotty though.

You do get used to it. I used to live in an Edwardian house that backed onto a branch line into Liverpool St. Trains every 20 mins from memory. It had a beautiful garden and after a while I didn't take any notice of the trains.

I agree, I'd prefer a train line to an A road any day of the week.

We back onto railway. Similar set up, large garden, mature trees / brush. The train line is set a lot lower than our garden. We do hear it in the garden (and DD will always shout TRAIN when one goes past which is more annoying than the train itself 😂). Zone it out tbh, and rarely hear it in the house. Feel the odd rumble if a freight train goes past but it's like tiny vibrations on the floorboards you'd only notice if you're bearfoot.

Rats, well, honestly we've seen 2 in the garden in almost 10 years. And one was dead. We do have a lot of foxes and cats in the area though.

Heavily wooded 100 metre garden, small slow local train service 2 an hour, out of sign in a cutting... maybe.

Anything audible, diesel trains, ugly overhead wires, or a garden any shorter than that or without mature trees, no chance.

I lived on a line that goes into Waterloo for a good few years. I am a very light sleeper and was wary but I did get used to it. However I would do your research. What time do the trains start and stop each day. How close is it to the station. Mine was within half a mile which meant they were pretty slow at that point. If it was high speed trains that continued overnight, I wouldn’t have coped. The kids loved it. It was a real novelty for them!

Yes, I would. A friend has a house with a small garden and the Hastings main line at the bottom. They say they don't notice the trains anymore and when staying there neither do I after a day or so. They also say it's quieter than the traffic at their previous place on a main road in South London.

Rats - missed that, no rats where I lived, I adopted a feral cat that had kittens under my shed, rescue re-homed her kittens.

I loved my house next to the railway, I hadn't thought of it for years until this thread. Garden and back of house were not overlooked and lots of wildlife. The trains didn't bother me at all.

I grew up 5 minutes walk from train station. The rail line was closer two streets away. As a kid I found the noise at night comforting and we only really heard trains if the wind was in the right direction.

As an adult I rejected a house that backed onto the rail line as I owned a cat at the time.

It will affect the resale value and the pool of people interested will be smaller than a similar house not near a railway but you know that is why it’s a bargain now.

Only time we ever had rat issues we were in S London and 2 miles from the nearest railway.

They say that in London you are never more than 15m from a rat, railway or no railway.

My childhood home was by a railway - it bisected the land with a paddock and kitchen garden on the other side of our very own level crossing, and a cattle creep (went under the line). Mainline London to Manchester. We were oblivious to the noise, learnt if the rails were vibrating an express train was coming, and it really was no bother. But goods trains came past at night and the house would shake for 10 minutes (they were very long), and we lost countless animals on the rails - cats, dogs, a cockerel and even a pony. So not absolutely sure I would buy a house in such close proximity.