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Robotrains take over NY's Brooklyn-Manhattan line under careful watch of human conductor overlords
If you ride the L train between Brooklyn and Manhattan at odd hours of the day, get ready for a little more automation in your lifestyle. As of today, the L will become the first NY subway line to be fully controlled by Communications Based Train Control, or CBTC, initially used overnights and during non-peak hours. It allows the trains to effectively run themselves, closer and faster than their meatbag conductors could otherwise, which should mean more trains more often. However, those fleshy workers have something their robotic replacements don't: contracts. Because of that there will still be humans watching the controls and, we'd imagine, napping occasionally. At least they're not striking. [Thanks, Zoli]
