Theydon Bois Action Group routinely carry out an ongoing process of monitoring the local planning portal for any updates or changes to active applications of interest to the village. Having submitted our letter of objection to this application dated 29 March 2026, it came to our attention that the consultation with Transport for London was woefully inadequate. The officer handling the application, Muhammed Rahman, appears to have only consulted with the TfL department that is concerned with surface infrastructure, for example buildings, fences, tracks, bridges, platform integrity etc. Of course, the addition of “up to” 150 dwellings in such close proximity to the station is bound to have an impact on passenger numbers boarding at Theydon Bois. Theydon Bois Station cannot be considered in isolation and might also be considered in the context of over 400 new dwellings being proposed in Epping parish meaning an increase of passengers boarding at Epping which would have a cumulative effect on Theydon Bois and beyond.

TfL state that a tube carriage can take 4 people per square metre. On the Central Line, TfL claim that based on this density, a total of 892 persons is the total capacity for one train comprising 8 cars and that the average capacity per car is 112.

The response from TfL to EFDC’s consultation contained the following comment:

“This response is made as a Railway Infrastructure Manager under the “Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) Order 2015”. It therefore relates only to railway engineering and safety matters. Other parts of TfL may have other comments in line with their own statutory responsibilities”.

TBAG understand that other relevant consultees at TfL would be at least the Spatial Planning, Network Planning and Strategic Analysis Teams. These would deal with issues concerning potential overcrowding on the trains from large housing developments and TBAG are adamant that consultation with all the appropriate departments at TfL must be undertaken in order to consider the planning consultation process thorough, diligent and fair for residents who rely on the tube service from both Epping and Theydon Bois.

TBAG have therefore submitted an Addendum to their strong objection and asked that EFDC confirm they will be consulting with the relevant TfL departments. TBAG have also contacted Loughton Town Council to ensure they are aware of this situation since trains which are filled with passengers by Theydon will be of no use to passengers boarding at Loughton station. You can read our Addendum letter to EFDC here.