Go South Coast

[DaveHarries]

Don’t forget route 5 by the short-lived Southampton Mini Link. This operated Ringwood - Southampton direct via the A31, then via the A336 through Cadnam and Totton.

Cadnam has almost nothing these days; only services T3 and T4 which don't go into Southampton; one operates down the A36 and the other serves the rural villages between the two (Bartley, Woodlands, etc). It surprises me that GSC haven't tried to better serve Cadnam which is something I think they could do quite easily by tweaking the services around Totton and West Totton a bit: I wonder if it is worth posting my thoughts on the matter on here in case someone from GSC saw them but I might do that anyway if there was any interest in my thinking.

Dave

 

[nw1]

Cadnam has almost nothing these days; only services T3 and T4 which don't go into Southampton; one operates down the A36 and the other serves the rural villages between the two (Bartley, Woodlands, etc). It surprises me that GSC haven't tried to better serve Cadnam which is something I think they could do quite easily by tweaking the services around Totton and West Totton a bit: I wonder if it is worth posting my thoughts on the matter on here in case someone from GSC saw them but I might do that anyway if there was any interest in my thinking.

Dave

The T3 and T4 seem to be operated by regular Enviro200s which does beg the question: could they not extend one journey on the 11 an hour to Cadnam (every two hours via the villages, every two hours direct)? It looks like it takes about an hour to get to Cadnam and back so it would require just one extra vehicle to do this, and the T3/T4 needs one vehicle anyway.

Cadnam was traditionally irregular but moderately frequent journeys on the W&D 31 but it did go through a purple patch around 2000 when it became half-hourly for a while (Solent Blue Line 30 and 30A, if I remember right). These were extensions of the long-standing West Totton service, which was formerly the 30.

I forget exactly what happened then, but I think the 30 and 30A became the 10 and 11 and the latter extended to Cadnam hourly, the 10 terminating at West Totton. If I remember right the 10 then worked back as a short journey on the 6 by operating empty from West Totton to the Rushington area, due to the timings not allowing for a quick turnaround to return on the 10. I think this was about 2007, but I'm not totally sure.

 

[Lynford1976]

The T3 and T4 seem to be operated by regular Enviro200s which does beg the question: could they not extend one journey on the 11 an hour to Cadnam? It looks like it takes about an hour to get to Cadnam and back so it would require just one extra vehicle to do this, and the T3/T4 needs one vehicle anyway.

The T3 and T4 are subsidised by Hampshire County Council. It's them that would call the shots; given their present financial situation it is unlikely they would pay for an extra working at the moment.

 

[nw1]

It’s a rather fascinating history, if nothing else! Some routes, for whatever reason, are just doomed to be unsuccessful bus territory it seems. Another nearby example is Portsmouth - Southampton, which has seen an array of attempts through the years in various different formats, although does currently sustain a regular service operated by First - albeit not their first attempt at that corridor!

I do wonder why they can't make Ringwood work, irrespective of whether they can make a tourist-oriented bus through Burley work.

Ringwood has literally no eastbound public transport. Surprised an A31/motorway express to Southampton Central station and city centre did not work. Perhaps through train ticketing would help.

Obviously at one time there was a market for buses on this corridor, for in the early 90s there was quite a regular service via one route or another.

 

[gc4946]

Ringwood-Southampton in general is a corridor that's littered with unsuccessful attempts to make it work. Velvet had a go on a fairly direct route after the old X33 was withdrawn, as did Dorset Sprinter a few years later. The most recent was Gardbus 139, a summer Sunday service via Fordingbridge and Paultons Park that ceased in 2015. Likewise Ringwood-Christchurch, now reduced to running only three days a week - Thompson's Tours had a go at a weekend service from Bournemouth to Salisbury, recreating the old 238 from 30 years earlier, but it didn't last long either.

During 1989/90 when living in Bournemouth I remember travelling several times on the then jointly operated Wilts & Dorset/Solent Blue Line X1/X2 limited stop services between Bournemouth and Southampton via Ringwood. I wish they returned because Ringwood and Lyndhurst would gain from an express bus link to Southampton marketed with National Rail through ticketing.

 

[nw1]

The T3 and T4 are subsidised by Hampshire County Council. It's them that would call the shots; given their present financial situation it is unlikely they would pay for an extra working at the moment.

It wouldn't need an extra working though, you just extend one 11 an hour to Cadnam replacing the T3/T4 and it's the same total number of vehicles (i.e. one extra bus needed to extend one 11 an hour) and presumably about the same number of driver hours.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The T3 and T4 seem to be operated by regular Enviro200s which does beg the question: could they not extend one journey on the 11 an hour to Cadnam (every two hours via the villages, every two hours direct)? It looks like it takes about an hour to get to Cadnam and back so it would require just one extra vehicle to do this, and the T3/T4 needs one vehicle anyway.

Cadnam was traditionally irregular but moderately frequent journeys on the W&D 31 but it did go through a purple patch around 2000 when it became half-hourly for a while (30 and 30A, if I remember right).
Later on this became the 10 and 11, the latter being the descendant of the 11 we have today.

The T3/T4 is run off peak using a vehicle spare from schools, two days a week. I would suspect that "just one extra vehicle" would be £200k p.a. - it would never be justifiable without council support. 2000 sounds like it was paid for by Rural Bus Challenge funding?

I do wonder why they can't make Ringwood work, irrespective of whether they can make a tourist-oriented bus through Burley work.

Ringwood has literally no eastbound public transport. Surprised an A31/motorway express to Southampton Central station and city centre did not work, maybe it could work if it was regular hourly clockface (where possible) or had through rail ticketing?

The X1/X2 was hourly from Ringwood to Southampton, operating alternately via Lyndhurst or Cadnam. Fact is... Ringwood is a small town and East of Ringwood is very thin territory.

 

[PTR 444]

Cadnam has almost nothing these days; only services T3 and T4 which don't go into Southampton; one operates down the A36 and the other serves the rural villages between the two (Bartley, Woodlands, etc). It surprises me that GSC haven't tried to better serve Cadnam which is something I think they could do quite easily by tweaking the services around Totton and West Totton a bit: I wonder if it is worth posting my thoughts on the matter on here in case someone from GSC saw them but I might do that anyway if there was any interest in my thinking.

Dave

T3 runs clockwise Totton to Cadnam via Woodlands and Bartley then back to Totton via Winsor and Tatchbury Mount. T4 runs the same route but anti-clockwise.

Personally I’d extend the both the 11 and 12 to Cadnam on a 2-hourly basis (hourly combined), with the former going via Woodlands and the latter via Winsor.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jun 2025 ==

I do wonder why they can't make Ringwood work, irrespective of whether they can make a tourist-oriented bus through Burley work.

Ringwood has literally no eastbound public transport. Surprised an A31/motorway express to Southampton Central station and city centre did not work. Perhaps through train ticketing would help.

I’m surprised a direct Bournemouth - Southampton local bus operated by GSC couldn’t work now considering that the £3 fare cap would make it much better value than the equivalent train journey. It would also have the advantage of being intergrated into Dayrider fares, making journeys very cheap if travelling on another GSC route at either end.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I’m surprised a direct Bournemouth - Southampton local bus operated by GSC couldn’t work now considering that the £3 fare cap would make it much better value than the equivalent train journey. It would also have the advantage of being intergrated into Dayrider fares, making journeys very cheap if travelling on another GSC route at either end.

Depends if you want to spend 30 mins on a train OR best part of two hours on a bus. Most people don't, even if it costs an extra fiver.

 

[EnviroExplorer]

I did the three routes last year with my partner and she’s very much not a bus person but still thoroughly enjoyed them despite the cost. With commentary along the way, they aren’t too dissimilar to a City Sightseeing operation really, although the reduced frequency on the Blue and Red this year I guess does sadly mean you need to plan a bit more carefully if hopping on and off at attractions along the way this year.

The cheaper Peak Sightseer’s offering of two routes at around 2.5hrs and 50min return trip offer less ride length than the New Forest Tour’s three lots of two hour long circulars, but admittedly the average person probably isn’t doing all three in a day! The two day product on the Peak Sightseer is 48hrs for £22, where as the New Forest Tour’s is two single day tickets at £28.50 if booked online, so it does mean if on say a week’s holiday you can use it over any two days based on whichever two days that week have the best weather rather than having to be consecutive.

The New Forest Tour’s tickets as previously mentioned do at least allow you to get to the New Forest to start your day (handy if living or holidaying somewhere else) on a number of connecting routes - Morebus X1/X2 from Bournemouth, X3 from Salisbury, & X6 from Bournemouth/Poole, and Bluestar 6 from Southampton & 8/9/112 from Southampton/Hythe. It’s a shame the Peak Sightseer’s don’t allow the same, unless able to catch one of the morning/late afternoon extensions to Chesterfield/not central Sheffield. Validity on Stagecoach’s 170 from Chesterfield would allow a bit more flexibility timewise, while the ability to use them on the 160 to/from Matlock would be a handy inclusion for tourists staying in that area.

The New Forest Park Authority website does say “The Tour is operated by morebus in partnership with the New Forest National Park Authority and is sponsored by local businesses” (click here for source), but I have no idea what the financial amount is like. I believe the Peak Sightseer was set up using Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) money from the council? Again I don’t know how much, but that may have helped keep fares lower?

By coincidence I’m actually sampling the Peak Sightseer very soon, which I’m thoroughly looking forward to, so it will be an interesting comparison!

Interesting to hear there is commentary on the New Forest Tours, I somehow overlooked that aspect. Again looking at the Peak Sightseer as a random comparison, this is available on both routes but beware vehicles 18304 and 19105 do not have such equipment fitted.

With regards to use on other services, Stagecoach have changed the fares slightly this year, but the Peak Sightseer day ticket is also valid on all services in the local area, the 160, 170, X17 etc, just make sure you have the relevant webpage or leaflet to hand as a driver on the 170 tried turning me away last week! Also worth noting although valid on these services as a Gold dayrider would be, the day ticket for the Peak Sightseer can only be purchased on one of said buses, the app, or on the 160/170. Still it presents that added flexibility like you mention, which is something I remain critical of the New Forest offering.

If memory serves me, it was initially set up commercially, before Derbyshire Council seemingly realised the potential and provided support with their BSIP money which prolonged operations into autumn and winter. This year it’s fully commercial however with shorter operation dates and increased fares.

Anyway I best get back on topic…

 

[Flange Squeal]

With regards to use on other services, Stagecoach have changed the fares slightly this year, but the Peak Sightseer day ticket is also valid on all services in the local area, the 160, 170, X17 etc, just make sure you have the relevant webpage or leaflet to hand as a driver on the 170 tried turning me away last week! Also worth noting although valid on these services as a Gold dayrider would be, the day ticket for the Peak Sightseer can only be purchased on one of said buses, the app, or on the 160/170. Still it presents that added flexibility like you mention, which is something I remain critical of the New Forest offering.

Thanks for the heads-up on that. I hadn’t seen it on the online publicity, but upon looking back I see mention hidden away in one question of the FAQs, but intriguingly that handy validity not mentioned in the section about getting to the Peak Sightseer!

 

[Towers]

I do wonder why they can't make Ringwood work, irrespective of whether they can make a tourist-oriented bus through Burley work.

Ringwood has literally no eastbound public transport. Surprised an A31/motorway express to Southampton Central station and city centre did not work. Perhaps through train ticketing would help.

Obviously at one time there was a market for buses on this corridor, for in the early 90s there was quite a regular service via one route or another.

Perhaps it’s just that, being used to the lack of said public transport links, the good folk of Ringwood have learned to live without it and therefore there’s little market when somebody does try to provide it?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Perhaps it’s just that, being used to the lack of said public transport links, the good folk of Ringwood have learned to live without it and therefore there’s little market when somebody does try to provide it?

Maybe that but got to remember that Ringwood is a small town of just 12k people and is very affluent. The market is limited and as for Bournemouth to Southampton, it was nearly 2 hours in the X1/X2 days and even as an express, it's not going to compare favourably with the train taking 29 minutes.

It's reminiscent of when Stagecoach tried a Gloucester to Bristol express - too few intermediate passengers, and a massive time differential on point to point means any cost saving is overshadowed by the time element.

 

[nw1]

I’m surprised a direct Bournemouth - Southampton local bus operated by GSC couldn’t work now considering that the £3 fare cap would make it much better value than the equivalent train journey. It would also have the advantage of being intergrated into Dayrider fares, making journeys very cheap if travelling on another GSC route at either end.

I once (September 1995) took advantage of that. At the time there was a fast (M27/A31/Ringwood/A338) Southampton-Bournemouth bus - probably the X33 - which took just one hour and ran from something like 0800 to 1800. I then transferred to the (as was) 101 to Poole and then the (as was) 142/143 to Corfe Castle. As an aside I seem to remember they still had a Bristol LH on the 101 - must have been one of the latest still in service.

Was a cheap way to reach Purbeck, and I wasn't exactly awash with cash at the time so this was quite helpful. Took quite a while (maybe 1 hour to Bournemouth, total 1h45 to Poole and then maybe total 2h45 to Corfe, with transfers) but I still had something like 5 hours there.

 

[Dwarfer1979]

Concessionary fares is what killed the X34/X35 originally, Wilts & Dorset were running full buses across the New Forest and losing money on them. Effectively Hampshire paid the same amount per passenger when free passes were introduced as they paid on half fares but operators were no longer getting any cash alongside (so reimbursement went from I believe 75% of adult fare to 25%) and those routes were even pre free fares majority concessionary passengers.

I suspect part of the problem is that Ringwood is Bournemouth focussed so travel eastwards to Southampton were never core, and so largely leisure and concessionary making it weak and easily disrupted. Traditionally areas of smaller towns have always had a big town that residents looked to for those services/shops that aren't in your local town, that did then shape the underlying bus networks as that is where the demand was (the historic boundaries between pre-dereg bus operators also have an impact in this but that isn't the case with this one). I grew up on the Surrey/Hampshire border, equal travel distance effectively from Basingstoke/Reading/Guildford but my family never went to Basingstoke or Reading for any purposes (except with my Dad to Reading for bus spotting purposes), everything was to Guildford and the bus network in the area reflects that suggesting it was pretty universal. These patterns have been changing since the 2000s with different demographics, employment patterns and leisure usages with people prepared to travel further but the process isn't quick and the volumes are just spread rather than massively increased generally so whilst there is potential to restore or introduce these new links it is difficult and slow to rebuild services and there is a large risk that the volume will never be big enough to support a good enough bus service.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Concessionary fares is what killed the X34/X35 originally, Wilts & Dorset were running full buses across the New Forest and losing money on them. Effectively Hampshire paid the same amount per passenger when free passes were introduced as they paid on half fares but operators were no longer getting any cash alongside (so reimbursement went from I believe 75% of adult fare to 25%) and those routes were even pre free fares majority concessionary passengers.

I suspect part of the problem is that Ringwood is Bournemouth focussed so travel eastwards to Southampton were never core, and so largely leisure and concessionary making it weak and easily disrupted. Traditionally areas of smaller towns have always had a big town that residents looked to for those services/shops that aren't in your local town, that did then shape the underlying bus networks as that is where the demand was (the historic boundaries between pre-dereg bus operators also have an impact in this but that isn't the case with this one). I grew up on the Surrey/Hampshire border, equal travel distance effectively from Basingstoke/Reading/Guildford but my family never went to Basingstoke or Reading for any purposes (except with my Dad to Reading for bus spotting purposes), everything was to Guildford and the bus network in the area reflects that suggesting it was pretty universal. These patterns have been changing since the 2000s with different demographics, employment patterns and leisure usages with people prepared to travel further but the process isn't quick and the volumes are just spread rather than massively increased generally so whilst there is potential to restore or introduce these new links it is difficult and slow to rebuild services and there is a large risk that the volume will never be big enough to support a good enough bus service.

This is much of it. If you're travelling from Bournemouth to Southampton, most will use the train because the time differential is massive. People don't spend 90 mins travelling to work when they can do it in 30 - they value their time more. Therefore, it tends to be those with more time... ENCTS passengers and the remuneration is awful.

Also, from Ringwood, what are the main passenger destinations. Nearest hospital, train station and major shopping/commercial centre are all in Bournemouth. That is the natural way in which people look to travel. Even with some changes happening (e.g. the growth of Southampton as a shopping destination), those fundamentals don't change quickly.

As for the risk, people are suggesting an hourly clockface timetable. Perhaps people need to work out the cost of the resources and then work out how many passengers you need. GSC are a smart business and not averse to taking on risk, so that they don't think it stacks up is telling.

 

[James H]

One of the New Forest Tour vehicles has been in a collision today:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/n...cker-tour-bus-van-collision-charminster-road/

• There has been a crash on Charminster Road, Bournemouth, near the Post Office, involving a red double-decker New Forest tour bus and a white Nissan van.

 

[Towers]

One of the New Forest Tour vehicles has been in a collision today:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/n...cker-tour-bus-van-collision-charminster-road/

Oh dear. That might very possibly be the final journey for 1823, then

Looks to be damage to the offside windscreen pillar, which one would assume is unlikely to be economical to remedy on a 20 year old vehicle. Shame. If nothing else it’ll be a useful source of spares I suppose.

On a related note, didn’t one of these get deroofed last year? Did it make a return to service?

 

[DaveHarries]

Oh dear. That might very possibly be the final journey for 1823, then

Looks to be damage to the offside windscreen pillar, which one would assume is unlikely to be economical to remedy on a 20 year old vehicle. Shame. If nothing else it’ll be a useful source of spares I suppose.

On a related note, didn’t one of these get deroofed last year? Did it make a return to service?

May well depends on who has to pay for the damage to the bus. I don't wish to look like an "armchair expert" so I won't post any speculation here but having once worked for an accident management business I would, based purely on the photos, have my own thoughts as to whose fault that could be.

Dave

 

[aliceh]

On a related note, didn’t one of these get deroofed last year? Did it make a return to service?

You might be thinking of 1821 which became unexpectedly open top in December 2023. That returned to service in the summer and is still going strong.

 

[Towers]

May well depends on who has to pay for the damage to the bus. I don't wish to look like an "armchair expert" so I won't post any speculation here but having once worked for an accident management business I would, based purely on the photos, have my own thoughts as to whose fault that could be.

Dave

Oh I agree - it certainly appears obvious!

But of course that doesn’t necessarily translate into the vehicle being repaired; if the cost of a obtaining and fitting new/replacement front end moulding is prohibitive then the operator may receive the payout from the third party (assuming non-fault) but decide to withdraw the vehicle anyhow

Presumably the reduction in PVR for the New Forest tours would allow some room for a withdrawal from the open top fleet anyway? So it might become a useful source of spares.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Wednesday at 10:53 ==

You might be thinking of 1821 which became unexpectedly open top in December 2023. That returned to service in the summer and is still going strong.

Yes; that was it! Glad to hear it survived!

 

[aliceh]

Presumably the reduction in PVR for the New Forest tours would allow some room for a withdrawal from the open top fleet anyway? So it might become a useful source of spares

Might end up keeping 1824 (the other red route branded bus) going, given that it's been on light duties for a few months after a couple of breakdowns. The NFT vehicles don't get much of a break out of season...

 

[JN114]

I believe they’re tangentially related / associated; if not please move the post…

Are Swindon getting new(er) buses soon?

About a year or so ago we had some ex- London double decker buses which were very welcome on cross town busy routes like mine (the 5); then they all vanished and it was back to the new-ish single decks we’ve had the past nearly 10 years; and always seem to be breaking down. So often of late has their been cancellations due to “technical problem with the bus” according to their app and Twitter; surely GSC can spare a dozen newish buses to relieve the most tired buses in Swindon’s fleet (the big single deckers that do the 17s for example). Even if it were in the form of new buses for Southampton or Bournemouth and some newer hand-me-downs for us?

Sorry not been hugely au fait with the bus scene for many, many years.

Anybody know the state of play?

 

[aswilliamsuk]

I believe they’re tangentially related / associated; if not please move the post…

Are Swindon getting new(er) buses soon?

About a year or so ago we had some ex- London double decker buses which were very welcome on cross town busy routes like mine (the 5); then they all vanished and it was back to the new-ish single decks we’ve had the past nearly 10 years; and always seem to be breaking down. So often of late has their been cancellations due to “technical problem with the bus” according to their app and Twitter; surely GSC can spare a dozen newish buses to relieve the most tired buses in Swindon’s fleet (the big single deckers that do the 17s for example). Even if it were in the form of new buses for Southampton or Bournemouth and some newer hand-me-downs for us?

Sorry not been hugely au fait with the bus scene for many, many years.

Anybody know the state of play?

Swindon are already getting newer buses - a number of E200 MMCs have moved recently, funnily enough released by new E200 MMCs at Totton.

 

[Gc1986]

Swindon are already getting newer buses - a number of E200 MMCs have moved recently, funnily enough released by new E200 MMCs at Totton.

The 65 plate E200 MMCs reliability has not been the best of late at least 1 or 2 of these have been breaking down weekly. Replacing the Scanias with MMC's make alot of sense as these can be used on on any routes.

 

[DaveHarries]

Personally I’d extend the both the 11 and 12 to Cadnam on a 2-hourly basis (hourly combined), with the former going via Woodlands and the latter via Winsor.

Close to my own thinking but not quite. Let us pretend for the purpose of this post that I was working for Bluestar and in charge of introducing a new route to serve Cadnam to be numbered, let us say, as Service 10. To go with the introduction of Service 10 I would make the following parallel changes:

- Revise service 12 so that the route for buses between West Totton (Morrisons) and Totton when heading to the City Centre would be the reverse of that for buses travelling from the City Centre towards West Totton. Service 12 would not serve the direct route along Ringwood Road between Maynard Road and Goodies in either direction. One journey per hour numbered as Service 12A and continuing from West Totton (Morrisons) to Goodies from where it could return to the City Centre as a Service 10 journey.

- Timetable Service 10 to be every 30 minutes between City Centre and Totton, via. Ringwood Road (in place of Service 12), as far as the stop for Goodies chip shop. Thereafter:

a) one journey per hour on Service 10, to continue to Cadnam via. Netley Marsh and Bartley (Chinham Road). From Bartley to Cadnam the route could be an anticlockwise circular (Winsor Road, Pollards Moor Road, Old Lyndhurst Road to Cadnam Roundabout or direct via. A336 between Bartley Crossroads and Cadnam Roundabout.

b) the other Service 10 journey to terminate at West Totton (Goodies) and return as a Service 12A via. Crabbs Way, West Totton (Morrisons), etc.

I did once draw up a mock TT for that during a boring (thanks to foul weather putting a dampener on my original plans) afternoon and I reckon that lot could work quite well.

Dave

 

[PTR 444]

Close to my own thinking but not quite. Let us pretend for the purpose of this post that I was working for Bluestar and in charge of introducing a new route to serve Cadnam to be numbered, let us say, as Service 10. To go with the introduction of Service 10 I would make the following parallel changes:

- Revise service 12 so that the route for buses between West Totton (Morrisons) and Totton when heading to the City Centre would be the reverse of that for buses travelling from the City Centre towards West Totton. Service 12 would not serve the direct route along Ringwood Road between Maynard Road and Goodies in either direction. One journey per hour numbered as Service 12A and continuing from West Totton (Morrisons) to Goodies from where it could return to the City Centre as a Service 10 journey.

- Timetable Service 10 to be every 30 minutes between City Centre and Totton, via. Ringwood Road (in place of Service 12), as far as the stop for Goodies chip shop. Thereafter:

a) one journey per hour on Service 10, to continue to Cadnam via. Netley Marsh and Bartley (Chinham Road). From Bartley to Cadnam the route could be an anticlockwise circular (Winsor Road, Pollards Moor Road, Old Lyndhurst Road to Cadnam Roundabout or direct via. A336 between Bartley Crossroads and Cadnam Roundabout.

b) the other Service 10 journey to terminate at West Totton (Goodies) and return as a Service 12A via. Crabbs Way, West Totton (Morrisons), etc.

I did once draw up a mock TT for that during a boring (thanks to foul weather putting a dampener on my original plans) afternoon and I reckon that lot could work quite well.

Dave

Bear in mind that Bluestar already operate a service 10 on the east side of Southampton, operating to Sholing via Peartree Avenue.

 

[341o2]

Regarding the Envirosetis, the NFT Red Route does not pass under Ampress bridge, so is there any reason why they could be used on this route?
I note both 1821 and 1825 have been regular performers on all three NFT routes
A shame given the New Forest becoming increasingly congested because of increasing visitor numbers, and the NFT has been hailed as a success in providing an alternative to the car.

 

[nw1]

Bear in mind that Bluestar already operate a service 10 on the east side of Southampton, operating to Sholing via Peartree Avenue.

I'd have said the simplest thing would be just to extend one 11 an hour beyond West Totton, no need to mess with the 12 or the other 11s.
I get the point about an extra vehicle being expensive but it doesn't actually need an extra vehicle in terms of overall allocation: you replace the T3/4 with extensions to the 11. Essentially you're combining the two services into one to allow through journeys to Southampton. You just run it initially on those two days that the T3/4 runs, and then if it attracts more customers you look at moving it to 6 days/week.

While we're on the subject of HCC tendered services, I wonder how cost to HCC would compare of extending one 14 every 2 hours to Durley, Bishop's Waltham and Eastleigh versus operating the slightly odd 49 (?) Stagecoach service as at present, which seems an ineffective replacement for the traditional 7/8 services. The Stagecoach vehicle has to presumably come empty from Winchester while a lengthened 14 every two hours would be an extension of existing services and would have an outstation (Eastleigh) at the far end. From a layperson's perspective a 14 extension "looks" cheaper to operate but I am no expert on the matter.

 

[Flange Squeal]

While we're on the subject of HCC tendered services, I wonder how cost to HCC would compare of extending one 14 every 2 hours to Durley, Bishop's Waltham and Eastleigh versus operating the slightly odd 49 (?) Stagecoach service as at present, which seems an ineffective replacement for the traditional 7/8 services. The Stagecoach vehicle has to presumably come empty from Winchester

The 49 is operated from the small Botley outstation, usually with a swap of vehicles around lunchtime.