Would you buy a house next to a railway line?

t0rt0ise

chris_m wrote: »

Of course, most gated crossings have sirens to warn blind motorists who apparently can't see flashing red lights that warn them that the gates are coming down.

Or blind pedestrians!

tyllwyd

My friend lives in a house which backs onto a railway track. It's a high speed line with intercity trains every half an hour or so, and goods trains and even a steam train now and again. It's quite strange in her garden because the embankment starts literally the other side of the back fence and goes up probably ten foot high, so the trains whistle by over your head. She's been there for ten years now so it doesn't bother her too much. It must have an effect on the value of the house though, although they do sell in that close eventually.

googler

In my town,

Close to railway line =
Close to railway station =
Short walk to rail station =
Easy commute into big city

Therefore definitely a plus point.

judygarland

I lived right by a main line station for 17 years. It wasnt until I moved out to a semi rural location that I realised that I never actually got a full nights sleep.

During the day, you don't really notice it much. During the night, our house used to shake and the vibration noise from heavy goods trains going very slow, used to be very loud.

What was really annoying was the mainenance work which could be carried out at all hours of day. Quite often the workmen would be shouting to each other so that they could be heard and during their tea break, they would have a game of footy! Lost count of the amount of times I shouted out my window at 3am in the morning!

The other thing I had no idea about until I put it on the market was the effect of the overhead electricity cables. I was advised that this is the equivalent of having a pylon near your house.