The Age of the Train

 

It might surprise you that it isn’t always the poshest villages around Falmouth or the swankiest Falmouth streets where properties sell and let the quickest. Quite often, it’s the ones that have the best transport links. After all, there is a reason why one of the most popular property programmes on television is called Location, Location, Location!

As an agent in Falmouth, I am frequently confronted with queries about the Falmouth property market, and most days I am asked, “What is the best part of Falmouth and its villages to live in these days?”, chiefly from new-comers.  The answer is different for each person – a lot depends on the demographics of their family. By this I mean their age, schooling requirements and interests. Nonetheless, one of the principal necessities for most tenants and buyers is ease of access to transport links, including public transport – of which the railways are very important.

 

Official figures recently released indicated that over 1200 people jump on a train each and every day to and from Falmouth. The convenience of location near a train station is reckoned to add 1 to 2% on property values and probably more than this for rental values.

 

Of greater significance is the future. Rail is becoming increasingly important as the costs associated with car travel continue to rise and roads are becoming more and more congested. A standard season ticket between Falmouth and Truro is little over £500 per year. Relatively cheap if you are travelling more than 250 commutes a year!

 

For those of you old enough to remember the 70’s slogan ‘This is the age of the train’ will be comforted to know that this is set to continue. Overall usage of the stations at Falmouth has increased over the last 20 years. In 1997, a total of 149,091 people went through the barriers or connected with another train at the 3 stations in that 12-month period. However, in 2016, that figure had risen to....

 

 

522,606 people using Falmouth stations annually.

 

The juxtaposition of properties and the train station has an important effect on the value and saleability and rentability of a Falmouth property. It is also significant for tenants - so if you are a Falmouth buy to let investor looking for a property - the distance to and from the railway station can be extremely significant.

 

One of the first things house buyers and tenants do when surfing the web for somewhere to live is find out the proximity of a property to the train station. That is why Rightmove displays the distance to the railway station alongside each and every property on their website.