Buying Near A Trainline

MobileSaver

TripleH said:

We had the parking issue with our last flat. Nightmare to park at our own property during the day because of train station nearish.

I think this is the more pertinent point. Living near a train line is a non-issue for most but living near a train station could be a problem.

As others have said, if the former then after a week or two you won't even notice when trains go past; we lived a 100 yards from a main line and only remembered this fact once in ten years which was when a friend mentioned it in passing. (And ten years later we sold for twice what we paid so the next buyer wasn't bothered by the train line either.)

MovingForwards

I've commuter train lines at the end of the garden. Unless I listen for them, I don't hear them go by. The train station isn't too far away either.

Didn't put me off buying the property as I knew nothing could be built on the other side.

SuseOrm

So I lived near to a bridge and I mean literally the bottom of my garden was the embankment leading up to the train line for six months thank heavens above I was only renting because I literally did not get a full night sleep in six months.  I never got used to the flashing lights it was like the northern lights when there was any rain because of the electricity hit in the overlay cables whenever any maintenance was done there were vans pulling up outside my front door to access the line,  it’s relentless what people don’t seem to realise is when the commute to train stop the consumer goods trains start so literally day and night every 3 to 4 minutes there is a train going past.  The property I rented was a fairly solid detached house that have been converted into four flats the high-speed trains used to make the windows rattle they were double glazed I don’t know how well they were fitted.  

I’ve now moved less than 3 miles away and I am closer to the station and I don’t the trains at all.  

So that’s a hard no from me to living near to the train line

Section62

Kat78MFW said:

...The train runs on top of an embankment that is covered in trees and full of wildlife. It means our garden is completely private, despite living in the suburbs, and not overlooked with no risk of new houses being built that change our private aspect.

Anyone buying should be aware that if the trees are on Network Rail property then they can (and regularly do) clear them all in the interests of operational requirements and safety.  E.g. ....

https://www.time1075.net/174815-2-havering-residents-condemn-network-rail/

Adjoining resident's privacy and enjoyment of wildlife are not a significant factor in the decision-making process.

Monkeyface41

We live quite close to a train line. It's a fairly busy line (trains every 20 mins daytime) and I barely notice it except when they are doing maintenance works (sometimes floodlit at night). I'd choose it any day over a busy road.

user1977

Section62 said:

Kat78MFW said:

...The train runs on top of an embankment that is covered in trees and full of wildlife. It means our garden is completely private, despite living in the suburbs, and not overlooked with no risk of new houses being built that change our private aspect.

Anyone buying should be aware that if the trees are on Network Rail property then they can (and regularly do) clear them all in the interests of operational requirements and safety.  E.g. ....

https://www.time1075.net/174815-2-havering-residents-condemn-network-rail/

Adjoining resident's privacy and enjoyment of wildlife are not a significant factor in the decision-making process.

And despite NR's supposed aims of giving lineside neighbours warning of planned works, you might have a surprise 3am chainsaw massacre happening outside your bedroom window...

movilogo

There is nothing disruptive buying adjacent to train lines. You will be ignored to noise in few days.
The real trouble comes from the perception that houses besides railway is bad which will hunt you during selling time.
There will a big group of buyers who will simply discard the house for no other reason. 

Section62

movilogo said:

There is nothing disruptive buying adjacent to train lines. You will be ignored to noise in few days.

 

People's perceptions vary.  Some will quickly find themselves able to block out noise (and vibration), others will always be disturbed.  Changes to the operation of the route, or environmental conditions, may reset the process of becoming used to the noise (and vibration), with no guarantee of the same results each time.

This goes some way to explaining the perception you refer to in your post.  E.g. The average person is likely to know someone who is a light sleeper and will wake at the least disturbance, so even if they know they themselves would sleep soundly through any normal noise/vibration from a railway line, they will be aware that for some other people this would be an intolerable disturbance. Those people who perceive living close to a railway as 'bad' are quite likely to understand the wide variation in people's perceptions, even if it wouldn't bother them personally.

TBagpuss

As others have said, there are pros and cons and these are not going to be exactly the same for everyone.

A lot of people will not want to live right next to a railway line, which may be good in that you may pay less than you would for a similar house that wasn't in that location, but that will likely still be the case when you come to sell. 

There will be noise - unlike traffic noise, or things like pubs, it will be fairly regular and predictable - lots of people are able to adjust to regular noises, so  only notice when the trains are late / cancelled - consider how sensitive to noise you are, and do some research about how  busy the line is. (I don't live near a rail line, but I grew up in a house with several old fashioned chiming clocks - they never disturbed me and even now, having left home over 25 years ago, if I visit my parents I can sleep through the chimes even though they are objectively pretty loud, and one of the clocks is in the room under the spare bedroom. On the other hand, the quiet sounds of water in the pipes if they run the dishwater  when I've gone to bed do keep me awake or wake me up! 

Similarly, a couple of year s a go when we had a burst waterpipe so our lane was blocked further up from my house, I was woken up every single morning by the silence as the milk tanker DIDN'T go past the house as 5.30 a.m.!

as others have said, if you are close to a station or junction, then trains may be noisier if they are slowing down or speeding up, or have to sound their whistles, and stations can create both noise and parking issues .

You'll get more wildlife and less likelihood of new builds - if the line is on an embankment then think about whether passengers and traindrivers will be able to see into your garden or windows, and whether you care ! (and whether light pollution from trains passing after dark will bother you 

Matilda542

We used to live in New Malden, 50 yards away from the mainline track running from Waterloo to Portsmouth. As others have said after a while you don't really hear the trains, only when they're not running which is a bit odd. The big thing we noticed though is what is called track fallout whereby tiny pieces of metal rust (not noticeable to the human eye) settled in our garden. Anything like a white door ledge and window sills from the double glazing eventually turned a light yellow and no amount of cleaning got rid of it. It also settled on our cars and eventually the roof and bonnet had quite a rough texture even with regular car washing. Personally I wouldn't live near a train line again.