Advice on buying property relatively close to tracks

[AlastairFraser]

Hi everyone,

I'm considering buying a house in a very quiet location, but when I was walking around a nearby garden I heard a very loud freight train passing by which is making me reconsider.
The house is around 600 meters from the track (this is the approx postcode PE11 4PX) and the signal would be at quadring.
The current owner reassured me that you can't hear most of the trains unless it's very windy.
I checked this website (https://live.rail-record.co.uk/) and it looks like there's quite a few freight trains passing by.
It seems like there were a few at the time I was visiting the property but I really could only hear one.

Could you advise me on the best way to check if this might be a problem? I can see from live rail that there should be around 40 trains per day but that doesn't tell me how fast they would go (except for the maximum allowed speed).
Is there any way to look for possible red flags (freight trains unlisted running all night for instance)?

Many thanks for your help!

Lionel

Hi Lionel,
I live about 3/4 of a mile (as the crow flies) from the Great Western Main Line at Reading with a few buildings in the way.
I can never hear anything to be honest at day or night, except for when a faster intercity train sounds its horn,which is twice a night at most and then it's still not particularly loud. In contrast,the Reading Festival site is a quarter of a mile further away and I can hear every word in every performance from my bathroom window, so unsurprisingly don't get much sleep that week.
I hope that answers your question,
Ali

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Used to live 10m from South Croydon Station (with a running jump I could have made the tracks from the roof and a serious long jumper would have made the platform (or rather the canopy). After the first few days it was not an issue; I heard the trains but didn’t “hear“ them. Even on a busy line it was episodic as opposed to a continuous traffic drone.

Only problems were engineering work, especially tamping, but that (the tamping) didn’t happen more than a handful of time in the 12 years I was there.

 

[BlythPower]

I'm 170 metres from a line with freight all day. Most of the trains pass unheard. Occasionally, a freight will start moving from a passing loop a bit further away and that's just about noticeable. I'd be far more concerned about trampolines and barbecue p***heads than a railway.

 

[james60059]

But you would be absolutely amazed at the number of people who buy houses close to stabling points and then ring up the TOC to complain about noise.

It's really as comical as those who buy houses under the flight paths into Heathrow and then complain about the planes. Watching the documentary that was on ITV last year "Heathrow; Britain's Busiest Airport", they receive an average of 1 complaint every 5 minutes

 

[lionelh]

Thanks everyone for your help! Your insight has been invaluable. I went to the property again at specific times to check noise from inside the house. With closed windows it's not really a problem and the house has air con for summer anyway. With open windows some of the very noisy freight trains are definitely louder but still not as bad as traffic or even planes.

 

[MotCO]

Can I add a couple of points?

1. Will the noise be unpleasant if you wish to relax in your garden (if there is one!). A relative lives on the flight path to an airport and conversations have to stop as the planes pass overhead.
2. Will it affect your ability to sell the house in time to come, and would it suppress the valuation?

 

[lionelh]

Another thing to add to these points is that if there is engineering works going on and it is not under a full possession ie some lines closed but some open, then you will have to add in the warning horn(s) from drivers of trains still going past. I live around 10-15m from the WCML and we have a week long run of overnight works going on to re-lay track and ballast but they are doing the slows and fasts separately to keep 2 running lines open through the night and that means we are being blessed with the sound of 2 tones to help us drift off to sleep I can't (and rarely ever can) hear the actual engineering work that is going on but I can definitely hear the warning horns.

Obviously these sort of works are few and far between (this is probably the biggest run of works in the 2 years I have been here as most is done on a Saturday night when the trains have stopped) and you just become accustomed to the day to day running noise and stop noticing it really. In fact, I actually find it harder to get to sleep on a Saturday night when the trains have stopped running compared to the rest of the week when trains run all night - the silence is clearly louder than the noise in my case

Some rare intermodal trains are very noisy and in the garden they'll definitely be a bit of a pain. But there's not that many per day and after a minute or so they're gone so I don't think that's a problem. I live in a cul de sac in a suburban area now and mopeds and cars are a lot more annoying.
The house is really not that close to the tracks and you can't even see them (or the train) from the house so I don't think it should affect resale value too much.

 

[Metal_gee_man]

Thanks everyone for your help! Your insight has been invaluable. I went to the property again at specific times to check noise from inside the house. With closed windows it's not really a problem and the house has air con for summer anyway. With open windows some of the very noisy freight trains are definitely louder but still not as bad as traffic or even planes.

Honestly I've just looked on Rightmove and the house is a cracking house, I'd go as far as saying I'm in the market for a new house in that area and I would say if you don't buy it it'd be on my list to view!

Rightmove

 

[jamesst]

Just another factor to bear in mind...my mum lives near train tracks, no overnight trains under normal circumstances. She’s deaf anyway and wouldn’t notice if there were! But there is a road access point in the fence by her house. When they’re doing overnight engineering even she notices all the plant and machinery going on. Not to mention people, noise and floodlighting. It doesn’t bother her, but it does bother some of the neighbours.
Of course, there isn’t engineering work too often, but as the access point is the only one for some miles in either direction, they can be working some way off and therefore more often as there’s several miles of track they can be working on. Worth checking if any access points in the fence!

Im inclined to agree with this. Where I live ive got a motorway viaduct to one side and a railway line to the other.
Normally neither me or the other half notice either. But if theres maintenance on either it can be a long night of noise.

 

[Welly]

I live less than 600 metres away from the railway in a village, the other buildings tend to mask the train sounds but I can sometimes hear passing container trains faintly. The main road passing by is a lot noisier!

As an aside, I recall an estate agent advert for a flat next to the approach tracks of a major London terminus way back in the 1980s, it said,"Ideal for a deaf trainspotter"

 

[Starmill]

I'm approximately one mile from the line, which is (was...) very very busy all day with train movements, and I could still hear them in the early evening when all was quiet otherwise. I hope you find a place to live where you'll be comfortable!

 

[ewsclass]

I have lived next to the SWML for the whole of my life (garden backs onto railway), doesn't bother us or neighbours, I never notice it unless I hear unusual traction coming down the line in which case I look out. I am used to it because I don't know different, I imagine you get used to it. Every few years NR tamp the line which is interesting to watch at the expense of being woken up at 3AM!

 

[furnessvale]

Can I add a couple of points?

1. Will the noise be unpleasant if you wish to relax in your garden (if there is one!). A relative lives on the flight path to an airport and conversations have to stop as the planes pass overhead.
2. Will it affect your ability to sell the house in time to come, and would it suppress the valuation?

You missed out an important 3. Does it affect the CURRENT value of the house enabling you to buy a property you otherwise could not afford?