Proposals to launch a new bus route in Southampton have been delayed after initial plans were “not really commercially viable”.

The city council is continuing to work on finding an operator for the Hill Lane service.

Discussions are taking place over the frequency of the service, which would run between the city centre and Lordshill via the central railway station, Hill Lane and Outdoor Sports Centre.

READ MORE: New bus route plans have been unveiled for Southampton

It was previously hoped the service would launch this year, however, Labour council leaders are now tentatively aiming for January 2025.

Liberal Democrat group leader and Bassett ward councillor Richard Blackman asked the executive for an update on the proposed route.

In a written response, cabinet member for environment and transport Cllr Eamonn Keogh said negotiations were underway with the successful tender.

At a council meeting on September 18, Cllr Blackman asked for details on the delay with residents facing “quite a bit of uncertainty”.

Cllr Keogh said: “We still need to procure an operator for that route. That is a work in progress. That route will need to be registered.

“What we are looking at doing is ensuring that whatever operator we have, we can have a frequency.

“Earlier we were looking at maybe that the route would be hourly. That’s not really commercially viable, so what we need with an operator is to get at least half hour.

“Now that’s what we’re working towards and that’s why there has been a delay.”

Cllr Keogh said a half-hourly service, which would also link to the hospital, would be “absolutely significant”.

He said the council’s bus service improvement plan had an ambition for all bus routes to be at least four an hour.

“That’s what we’re working towards,” Cllr Keogh said.

“We’re there in some areas but not in others, but certainly that’s our intention along that Hill Lane route that we could get to a half-hourly service.

“I’m confident we are going to get there and that eventually we will have a bus service for the Hill Lane that meets that criteria.”

The city council held a tender exercise for the route over the summer.

The service, along with a Shirley feeder route, will be subsidised by a Department for Transport (DfT) allocation dedicated to improving the bus offer in Southampton.