1 .
Many countries ~ possibly including your own country of origin ~ have fairly long and robust traditions of telling silly jokes about the people of a neighbouring land ... who are held to be examples of extreme stupidity. In the case of mainland Britain, the traditional butt of such jokes were the Irish; the French traditionally said similar things about the Belgians, the Chinese about the Japanese (we believe), etc.
For the sake of the story that follows, let's just agree that it was 'Country X'!
'The National Railway Authority of Country X followed-up some research which strongly suggested that in the event of any railway accident, passengers were more likely to become potential casualties while travelling in either the first or last cars of the train (these being more likely to hit, or be hit by, something else along the line). As of next January, they will therefore be abolishing the ... ... carriages on all rail services in Country X.'
... front and rearmost ...
... top and bottom ...
... head and tail ...
... first and final ...
'Head and tail' is a good pair but for some reason is not really used to refer to vehicles, except in the specific context of 'head and tail lights (or lamps)' on road vehicles ~ or possibly trains.
'First and final' (despite an attractive alliteration again) is more often used about something which is simultaneously the 'one and only', e.g. that someone who has seriously misbehaved (at work, or on a sports field, perhaps) is given a First and Final Warning not to repeat their misconduct, else they would face outright dismissal on any second occurrence. We believe that modern Contract Law may well prohibit such drastic treatment except in the most compelling of circumstances (e.g. a doctor or teacher who 'couldn't keep his hands to himself'), but we are confident you will appreciate the sense ~ at least, linguistically! ~ of such a phrase, and that it does not apply readily to trains.