Alvira Zairina tried hard Saturday to rub out stains on a window of an economy train Gaya Baru that serves the Jakarta-Surabaya route. But after a couple of minutes of scrubbing, the stains remained.

"I've scrubbed it many times, but I cannot remove the stains from the window glass. Maybe the stains have been on the glass for years," said Alvira, an employee of Citi Indonesia.

"The worst part is, I can't even open the window. It's damaged. Look!" she said, trying hard to lift open the window.

She was not the only person finding it difficult to clean the 12-car train.

Myrna Natasya also worked hard to clean a toilet and scrub graffiti off the toilet door.

"How do I feel about cleaning the toilet? Well, it's hard to say. I'm speechless. I just flushed the toilet with plenty of water and soap. Fortunately, I don't have to do this by myself because I do it together with my friends," Myrna said, wiping sweat off her face with the back of her hand.

"And that doesn't count the graffiti on the toilet door. It's not easy to remove. I don't know why people graffiti the doors. At least the door looks cleaner now."

Alvira and Myrna are two of more than 1,000 people, Citi Indonesia employees and some volunteers from state train operator PT Kereta Api (KA), who volunteered to clean eight train stations across the city.

During the one-day event, the volunteers cleaned Kota station and the other seven stations -- Jayakarta, Mangga Besar, Sawah Besar, Juanda, Gondangdia, Cikini and Manggarai in West, Central and South Jakarta.

The event, Railway Getaway, was part of Global Community Day, Citi's annual program.

The volunteers did not only clean inside some trains, they also planted trees and repainted walls along the railway.

City country officer for Indonesia Shariq Mukhtar said he hoped the activities would encourage Jakartans to go by train instead of car.

"It can reduce air pollution in the city, as well as traffic congestion," Mukhtar said.

In the meantime, the event raised some concerns among the volunteers.

Alvira said the cleaning should be held routinely.

"A one-time cleaning program will never work well. KA should continuously hold this kind of program. It's for passengers' comfort," Alvira said.

"I also hope that KA will improve safety. In a full train, female passengers are at risk of sexual harassment. I hope KA can handle this problem," she said.

Myrna said there should be a cleaner in each train car to keep the car and its toilet clean.

"KA can take Transjakarta as an example. Transjakarta places a employee on every bus," Myrna said.

"It is also important for train passengers to keep the trains clean."

KA chief director Ronny Wahyudi said his company was trying to improve its service by replacing old cars with the new ones and by cleaning trains daily.

"But we cannot do it by ourselves. We hope passengers will also take part in keeping the trains and stations clean," Ronny said.

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