High Rail Noise
Significant train noise
High rail noise is the top band Propbar assigns from the strategic noise maps. It marks modelled train noise over 70 dB Lden outdoors at the building's location, not inside any home. The Lden figure is a year-round average that counts evening and night trains more heavily than daytime ones. All four UK nations map strategic noise, each through its own government body.
What This Means
Outside this building, passing trains will be loud and frequent, and may interrupt a conversation in the garden. Inside depends on the home: a flat facing away from the line or higher up can be much quieter, and one facing it louder. Rail noise comes in bursts, which many people find easier to live with than a road's constant hum. Glazing and room layout change the indoors a great deal, and change the garden not at all. If you later extend, the council may ask for a noise assessment before granting permission. This does not normally affect mortgage approval, buildings insurance or resale.
Score Ranges
Low Noise
45 to 60 dB LdenModelled outdoor train noise is barely noticeable.
Medium Noise
60 to 70 dB LdenModelled outdoor train noise is noticeable, particularly around the busiest hours.
High Noise
Over 70 dB LdenModelled outdoor train noise is frequent and loud.
Practical Advice
- Visit at the evening peak and again after midnight to hear the loudest hours the year-round average hides.
- If any rooms face the line, get a secondary glazing quote for them before you agree a price.
- Ask your surveyor to check for ground-borne vibration if the house sits within a few metres of the track.
- Compare the asking price with recent sales of similar homes a few streets back from the line.
Additional Information
Strategic maps model airborne noise only. Ground-borne vibration from a nearby line is felt rather than heard, and no band here captures it. The link goes to England's mapping round; the other three nations publish their own.