Travelling without reservation

A six-carriage train arrives at York station, where it is due to split in two.  Carriages A, B and C are going to Newcastle, and D, E and F to Scarborough.  I look at my ticket, for the Newcastle part of the train, and then at my seat reservation, which is in carriage E, and find myself in a quandary.  Have I made a mistake?

As is perhaps to be expected, no-one at the station tells the passengers what's going on, and confusion reigns.  After a bit of deliberation, my cynicism over the ability of the privatized train companies to do their job properly wins, and I decide to board the train that says it is heading north-east, rather than the carriage where I have a reserved seat.

And thankfully, this is the right decision, though I only have it confirmed a few moments before departure, when a young couple, luggage-laden, stumble unimpressedly onto the Newcastle train.  They had found their reserved seats correctly, but unfortunately the reservations were in the wrong train, and only a last-minute intervention saved them from taking those seats to the seaside.

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