ᐅ Is it possible to have a quiet home despite an uncontrolled railroad crossing (train horns)?

Hello,

as a backup option, we were able to reserve a plot of land in a new development area within the Nuremberg metropolitan region.

Everything fits well there except for one issue that concerns me: next to the development area (about 150m (490 feet) from our potential plot), a regional train passes over ungated level crossings and sounds its horn before each one. I am worried that the horn will be audible inside the house and disturb sleep.

The neighbors we spoke to, who have lived there for a long time, said they don’t notice the horn at all. They looked at us incredulously when we asked about it :-) The noise assessment assumes there is no significant noise emission from the railway line. However, I think this refers to the train noise itself, which is actually almost imperceptible, and not the horn.

During the day, I don’t find the horn disturbing. It fits the rural setting. But my wish is to have the house as a retreat, completely quiet from outside noises, including the horn.

Do you have experience whether such train horns can be “blocked out” by appropriate wall construction, a centralized mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, and soundproof windows? Or is the horn too loud for these measures to effectively reduce the noise?

Thank you very much for your opinions
Jo

That will surely be heard. But you can build accordingly, right? Sand-lime bricks and soundproof windows are mandatory there. Definitely avoid using Poroton or Ytong; these materials do not provide more sound insulation than a tent.

Well, it’s a bit more than just a tent. And do trains even run there at night, or is it quiet after 10:00 PM?

I thought the same as Karsten... a regional train combined with an ungated level crossing, so there can’t be that much traffic (about once per hour?). And definitely not at night. I also can’t imagine it being so intrusive that you would actually notice it. We don’t even hear our landline phone on the ground floor...

Besides, you have to consider the wind direction: where are the tracks located in relation to the property? Otherwise: go there, spend some time, experiment a bit on the site, and try not to focus on the horn... then ask yourself if you still perceive it negatively.

150m (165 yards) is really nothing; at that distance, the noise from the traffic should almost make the house shake. We have a highway 10km (6 miles) away, and depending on the wind, it is still clearly audible, but only outside.

Bookstar schrieb:

150 m (490 feet) is really nothing; the house should actually be shaking from the noise of the passing trains. We have a highway 10 km (6.2 miles) away, and depending on the wind, it is still clearly noticeable outside.

That is really quite exaggerated. As @ypg and @Nordlys pointed out, firstly the frequency will be quite low, and secondly the regional trains aren’t going to be extremely loud. We have a plot of land located 125 m (410 feet) from the railway line, where some very loud freight trains run. Even those don’t cause anything to shake. A highway 10 km (6.2 miles) away being seriously noticeable depending on wind conditions? I honestly can’t imagine that at all.