All of this discussion forgets one fact. The cushions will have a habit of disappearing.
I can see it now - the Conductor is required to take an inventory after each trip, and fill out a report that all cushions are present. If they aren't, the conductor will have to come up with the funds to replace the missing cushions.
This may sound ridiculous, even if Mainers are probably among the most honest people anywhere, but I have been a member of churches which had cushions in a box at the rear of the church to be used on the hard pews, and many of them disappeared over the years and had to be replaced on a regular basis.