Is it bad to live near a railway? (train tracks)?

Question

I am moving to a group of townhomes that has a railway about 1 mile away. Could anyone tell me if it's a bad idea to move that close to a railroad (track)?

It is a commuter train track. (Not dangerous chemical shipments..)

Answer 1

I live across the road from a train track.    Passenger trains are not a problem at any time.  

Freight is but its the noise not the load.  

Chemicals are also moved by road so saying living near a railroad increases the risk is silly. You have no idea whats in any truck that goes past you.   When you consider all the railway tracks the chances of an accident at your door is small.

Answer 2

You will hopefully get used to the noise in a few days. Other than that, it should be OK.  

Answer 3

No, there's hardly ever train accidents, and if there are you're too far away for t to matter anyway. Nothing else on a train could hurt you unless you walked in front of it or something stupid like that.  You should be fine.  You just may lose some sleep at night when it goes by, but if you don't mind the noise then no worries.

Answer 4

Nope, I spend half my life ON train tracks and I am not worried.

The noise may bother you, if that is not an issue, then dont hesitate.

The safety worry is negligible, you are far more at risk every time you get in an automobile than from any railraod accident.  

Answer 5

Being a mile from a commuter railroad shouldn't bother you much. You will hear the whistle but it won't be that loud.

xxx000au i don't know where you live but some of the stuff shipped by rail would make you lose sleep at night.

Answer 6

If the railroad is about a mile away you probably won't even notice that it's there. It's possible that you may get some noise related to rail operations but that would be about the extent of it's impact, and you'd soon get used to that. I live inside a mile from my local commuter line and get some noise, though the level of noise does depend on the direction the wind is blowing from. In any case it's not intrusive and is normally only audible early in the morning or late at night when the sound is not being drowned out by traffic noise from the roads.

My sister-in-law and her family lived in a flat (apartment) just feet from one of the main rail lines out of London. They said it only affected them when the line was closed for maintenance, because all the sound they were used to hearing was suddenly absent.