At the heart of Cyberpunk 2077's disastrous launch was a slew of bugs, impeding many from enjoying CD Projekt Red's highly anticipated release. However, much of the game's initial failure can be attributed to the content promised by the development studio, only to be left out or seemingly cut for time at some point before launch. One of these many features, alongside car customization, apartment upgrades, and wall-running, was a public transportation system.
Many unfinished locations can be found around Night City in Cyberpunk 2077, including the Center for Behavioral Health, a club shown in the promotional photos for the Westbrook district, and a large section of Pacifica. It looks like CDPR also planned to have a fully functioning railway system in Cyberpunk 2077 complete with large stations. It can be inferred that these were meant to be used in the game and not simply for aesthetic purposes because the doors in the most-hollow buildings are functional. Still, it's actually ironically spot-on for California and makes a lot of sense that this would be the case canonically.
Night City's History in the Cyberpunk Universe
In the Cyberpunk universe, California was split into two after Northern California declared its independence from the rest of the state in 2012, and the rest of the land not claimed by NorCal would go on to become known as Southern California. Night City borders the two, and though it's officially located in Northern California, it remains an international autonomous free city and doesn't answer to the NorCal laws or government. Its lore actually represents the real California pretty well. SoCal residents are consistent victims of the smog covering the cities, and the ever-increasing housing prices of the states drove many from their homes and onto the streets.
But with a population of nearly 7 million by 2077, it probably looks pretty odd to many players that Cyberpunk 2077's Night City doesn't seem to have a complex public transportation system. At least, not one that players can experience without the help of cheats or mods. In reality, the Night City Transit Corporation and Night City Area Rapid Transit oversee the megacity's busses and trains, and railways. By the year 2077, the corporations have a strong reputation for fast travel as well as convenient and cheap transportation that's accessible for almost all citizens. This would make sense for a city heavily influenced by Japan, which is known across the (real) world to have excellent public transportation, not only because it comes in a variety, but because of how clean and convenient it is for the average citizen.
Unfortunately, these facts about Night City and its excellent train system can't be observed through Cyberpunk 2077. This content looks to have been cut and isn't accessible by means intentional by the developer. Though it has fully functioning doors, working trains can't be found on the tracks and the buildings are mostly completely empty.
However, going back to Cyberpunk's lore, this flaw of the game itself is actually ironically representative of the real-world California, which struggles to support its constant influx of residents in the same way. There are a handful of notable rail systems throughout the state, but they aren't nearly as accessible or convenient as residents would like them to be, resulting in traffic, especially in the greater Los Angeles area, which has become known for its insane commute times and the layer of smog sitting over the city.
Furthermore, the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system is the best representation of the unfinished Cyberpunk 2077 project. Extensions and stations for the train railways have been planned for decades but often get delayed for many years, or in some cases, canceled after several years of planning. So it's a bit funny that Cyberpunk would confront this same issue; its hollow train stations are just uncompleted city projects, both in-game and out-of-game.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions in development.