Red and blue ears

On my train journey back from Winchester I used the Virgin cross-country train. I needed to get a ticket for the bike. Which was a bit of a pain, for me and those behind me in the queue - but no matter.

Also there was some confusion about where bikes are supposed to go (coach F if there is no buffet cart, and coach D if there is, apparently). But that's still not the most important issue.

What really puzzles me is why most of the seats on one side of the carriage have a blue ear, and most on the other have a red ear?

I did wonder if this was so that the directionally challenged knew which way the train was travelling, but then I noticed a few seats at the end with the ears the other way round, so it can't be that.

Perhaps it's a way of segregating passengers to avoid political arguments. All the Telegraph readers on one side, and Guardian readers on the other. Is it significant that several of the passengers with blue ears are bald?