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A train travels from Station A to Station E, passing through stations B, C, and D, in that order. The train has a seating capacity of 200. A ticket may be booked from any station to any other station ahead on the route, but not to any earlier station.
A ticket from one station to another reserves one seat on every intermediate segment of the route. For example, a ticket from B to E reserves a seat in the intermediate segments B - C, C - D, and D - E.
The occupancy factor for a segment is the total number of seats reserved in the segment as a percentage of the seating capacity. The total number of seats reserved for any segment cannot exceed 200.
The following information is known.
1. Segment C - D had an occupancy factor of 95%. Only segment B - C had a higher occupancy factor.
2. Exactly 40 tickets were booked from B to C and 30 tickets were booked from B to E.
3. Among the seats reserved on segment D - E, exactly four-sevenths were from stations before C.
4. The number of tickets booked from A to C was equal to that booked from A to E, and it was higher than that from B to E.
5. No tickets were booked from A to B, from B to D and from D to E.
6. The number of tickets booked for any segment was a multiple of 10.
How many tickets were booked from Station A to Station E?
Correct Answer: 50
Assuming the tickets from A - C, A - D, and A - E to be $$a,b$$ and $$c$$, respectively. Also, assuming the tickets from C - D and C - E to be $$x$$ and $$y$$, respectively. We are also given that the number of tickets from A - C is equal to the number of tickets booked from A - E, so the value of $$a=c$$. We are also given that 40 tickets were booked from B to C, and 30 tickets were booked from B to E. Other information provided is that no tickets were booked from A to B, from B to D, or from D to E.
Putting all the given information in the table, we get,
From the above table, the tickets in the segments A - B, B - C, C - D and D - E can be calculated as,
A - B $$=a+b+c=2a+b$$
B - C $$=a+b+c+30+40=2a+b+70$$
C - D $$=a+b+x+y+30$$
D - E $$=c+y+30=a+y+30$$
We are given that segment C - D had an occupancy factor of 95%. We can calculate the number of seats occupied in the segment C - D as,
Seats occupied in segment C - D $$=\dfrac{95}{100}\times\ 200\ =\ 190$$
We are given that the B - C segment had more occupancy than the C - D segment. We are also given that a, b, c, x and y are multiples of 10 as per clue 6.
We also know that the people on board in a segment cannot be more than 200. The only value greater than 190 that is a multiple of 10 is 200. So, B - C segment had 200 seats occupied.
Equating it with the above equation, we get,
$$2a+b+70=200$$
$$2a+b=130$$ --(1)
$$a+b+x+y+30 = 190$$
$$a+b+x+y=160$$ --(2)
We are also given that among the seats reserved on segment D - E, exactly four-sevenths were from stations before C. The seats reserved on segment D - E before station C are a + 30.
Equating the expressions, we get,
$$\dfrac{4}{7}\left(a\ +\ y\ +\ 30\right)\ =\ a\ +\ 30$$
$$a\ +\ y\ +\ 30\ =\ \dfrac{7}{4}\left(a\ +\ 30\right)$$ ---(3)
So, the seats occupied during D - E $$=a\ +\ y\ +\ 30\ =\ \dfrac{7}{4}\left(a\ +\ 30\right)$$
We know that this value has to be an integer.
We are given that the number of tickets booked from A to C was higher than that from B to E. This means that the value of a > 30.
We know that a and b are positive multiples of 10, so the possible values of a that are greater than 30 and satisfy the equation (1) are 40, 50 and 60.
The only value of a at which the equation (3) is an integer is when $$a+30$$ is a multiple of 4, and the only value out of the above values that satisfies the condition is when $$a=50$$, as at $$a=40$$ and 60, the value of $$a+30$$ is not a multiple of 4.
We can conclude that the value of $$a=50$$, and substituting in (1), we get the value of $$b=30$$.
Substituting in (3), we get,
$$50\ +\ y\ +\ 30\ =\ \frac{7}{4}\left(50\ +\ 30\right)$$
$$\ y\ +\ 80\ =\ 140$$
$$\ y\ =\ 60$$
Substituting all the values in (2), we get,
$$50\ +\ 30\ +\ x\ +\ 60\ =\ 160$$
$$x\ =\ 20$$
Putting all the values in the table, we get,
A - B $$=a+b+c=2a+b=130$$
B - C $$=a+b+c+30+40=2a+b+70=200$$
C - D $$=a+b+x+y+30=190$$
D - E $$=c+y+30=a+y+30=140$$
The number of tickets booked from station A to E from the above table is 50.
Hence, the correct answer is 50.
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