Buying a property close to rail lines - anything to watch out for/clarify?

Jaybee_16

maxxpayne said:

How far was your property from the main line? Looks like ours would be 110 feet away from the house and about 40 feet from the garden fence. 

My garden was about 80 ft overall, with TfL owning half. Top end of the Northern Line.

Section62

maxxpayne said:

Section62 said:

I understand it now. Looking at street view every house seems to have done the 45 degree parking so Barnet council probably is lenient on this. Plus we’ll probably have two cars max to care about so not worrying too much.

I think it may be more of a case of not noticing or wilful blindness rather than being lenient as such.  But the footway is getting badly damaged by people driving over it at all angles (your image shows lots of replacement slabs) so how long the situation would be allowed to continue is anyone's guess.

This road also has an issue in that it isn't wide enough for people to park with all wheels on the carriageway on both sides, so there is informal footway parking (despite this being illegal in London).  The status quo works fine for the residents... until it doesn't anymore.

maxxpayne said:

incus432 said:

The only 'anything else' to mention is possible night-time goods trains, I lived for a few years close to a railway line and wasnt bothered by noise (the motorway class road alongside was much more bothersome) except sometimes between 2 and 4 am a very heavy goods train would go through which would wake me up and literally shake the house. 

It’s a tube line (Piccadilly to be precise) so hopefully it won’t be a challenge. What I plan to do is stake out on the street in the morning and night unless I find an AirBnB on the street to get a hang of the noise. 

The line won't have freight, perhaps only the occasional night-time engineering train when there is work going on elsewhere.  The peak hours are probably about as noisy as it will get.  The passenger trains on the line are old, and due for replacement in the next year or so, which may impact on noise levels.

Albermarle

maxxpayne said:

Albermarle said: hi

I have a commuter ( and occasionally freight) line at the end of the garden. I do not remember it being mentioned in any of the paperwork when buying the house ( although it was a long time ago) or any restrictions/covenants.
I think though Network Rail have some statutory powers in case you have a massive tree causing problems, or something like that.
Noise wise, it still can be an issue if you are in the garden, but a minor one. 

How far is the line in your case? Ours would be 35-40 feet from the garden boundary and 110 feet from the house. Attached a photo. 

It is pretty similar, although we are a bit closer.

NanookOfTheNorth

I'd rather live next to a train line than a busy road, and being interested in railways has nothing to do with it!   When I lived at my parents for many years that was next to a regular service train line with diesel engines, like others have said you get used to it and they just become background noise for a few seconds as they pass.  Occasionally some heavy freight, or night work but that wasnt very often.  Trains these days are much more quiet.

If you're not familiar with the line with how busy it will be have a look at the real trains web site link below.  Select the nearest station on your line (ignore the date/time) and search, then go to Detailed section.  it shows the trains that stop at that station and those which pass through so you'll get more details than just the public timetables.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/

(this is for National Rail services, not London tube, unless I've missed the location where you said your line is)

youth_leader

Good luck!  We were right on the line and the trains filled the whole of the kitchen windows when they went past.  You'll hardly notice them at that distance, and as others have said, far better than a road.  

Section62

NanookOfTheNorth said:

I'd rather live next to a train line than a busy road, and being interested in railways has nothing to do with it!   When I lived at my parents for many years that was next to a regular service train line with diesel engines, like others have said you get used to it and they just become background noise for a few seconds as they pass.  Occasionally some heavy freight, or night work but that wasnt very often.  Trains these days are much more quiet.

If you're not familiar with the line with how busy it will be have a look at the real trains web site link below.  Select the nearest station on your line (ignore the date/time) and search, then go to Detailed section.  it shows the trains that stop at that station and those which pass through so you'll get more details than just the public timetables.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/

(this is for National Rail services, not London tube, unless I've missed the location where you said your line is)

The property is near to a Tube (only) line.

jimbog

Ask any surveyor to look out for any Japanese knotweed that may be near the railway line. Probably wrong time of the year to spot it but might be worth finding if there's any history of it 

maxxpayne

Here's a video I took yesterday night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Llgq6cTd-E

I'm certain that you wouldn't hear it inside the house at night and in the daytime even outside you'll probably barely hear it - but I intend to do another stakeout in daytime this week.

One reason the sound felt a lot louder to me is because how dead quite the area is generally - our current place is in Hornsey Rise, Islington and the road traffic is bad enough that even leaving the bathroom window open can be noisy.

Section62

maxxpayne said:

Here's a video I took yesterday night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Llgq6cTd-E

I'm certain that you wouldn't hear it inside the house at night and in the daytime even outside you'll probably barely hear it - but I intend to do another stakeout in daytime this week.

One reason the sound felt a lot louder to me is because how dead quite the area is generally - our current place is in Hornsey Rise, Islington and the road traffic is bad enough that even leaving the bathroom window open can be noisy.

The video is private?

I'd be surprised if you couldn't hear the noise at all inside, but often with (low speed) rail lines the main issue is with vibration rather than direct sound.

You are probably lucky that (if I remember right) the track is climbing in the northbound direction, but by that point the driver has probably cut/reduced the power to start slowing down for the next station stop. The exception would be if trains have come to a stand at a signal because another train is already in the station - the motor 'whine' noise as they get going again can be considerable and lasts longer than a passing train. Southbound trains are likely up to speed/coasting downhill, so most of the noise will be from wheel/rail contact rather than the motors.  If you haven't already you might want to ride that section of line to get a feel for it.  And do your daytime noise check in the evening peak when there's more chance of trains being held at signals on the approach to the station to the north.

The main thing is unless you or family members are particularly noise-sensitive you'll likely get used to the noise after a while and only really notice the absence rather than the prescence.

brianposter

Make sure that there are no signals near the house. A stopped train with an alarm going at 2am is definitely something to be avoided.