MUMBAI, Dec. 8 -- Even as regular long-distance trains continue to run at full capacity, the special services introduced to accommodate passengers stranded by the ongoing IndiGo flight disruptions are seeing unexpectedly low demand. On Sunday, the sixth day since technical issues grounded hundreds of IndiGo flights nationwide, the help desks set up at both terminals of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport reported only a trickle of enquiries for rail options. Western Railway announced a special Mumbai Central-New Delhi service on Sunday. "For the convenience of passengers and to meet the surge in travel demand, Western Railway will run a special train on special fare," said Vineet Abhishek, chief public relations officer. "The train will halt at Borivali, Surat, Vadodara, Ratlam, Nagda, Kota and Mathura, and will comprise AC 3-tier (economy) coaches." However, checks on IRCTC showed close to 450 vacant seats on the special train as of Sunday evening, while premium services such as Vande Bharat, Shatabdi Express, Rajdhani Express and Tejas Express remained fully booked. A similar pattern was seen on the Pune-Bengaluru route, where special trains also had significant vacancies despite regular trains running at capacity. At the Mumbai airport terminals, the joint railway help desks, staffed by representatives from IRCTC, Central Railway and Western Railway, continued to field queries mainly about baggage issues and ticket availability rather than bookings. Among the stranded passengers was Hansif Kumar from Kolkata, who had travelled to Mumbai with his family for work and a family event. "We tried other airlines but the fares had skyrocketed. Eight of us were staying in a hotel, and there was no extra accommodation available," Kumar said. "Our luggage was already checked in and we received it only today. We will now book train tickets on the app. The only problem is that a journey that takes two-and-a-half hours by flight will now take nearly 30 hours by train."...