The MTA has decided to try automated trains on an experimental basis, with the first one being the little-used L line for 2005. Critics have called it a "robo-train" (from "robot').

13 January 2005, New York Daily News, suburban section, pg. 2:
GOTBAUM: ROBO TRAIN L OF A RISK
By MELISSA GRACE

PROTESTING A MOVE to replace subway operators with computers, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum charged the high-tech trains put "riders at risk."

"Good morning. Save the L train," she said as commuters hurried through the Bedford Ave. stop in Williamsburg. "How is the train going to know when there is a worker in the tunnel?" Gotbaum said.

The controversy over computer-controlled subways - officially called Communication-Based Train Control - has heated up as the Transit Authority plans to automate the L at seven stops in June.

The City Council will hold hearings today on the safety of the Transit Authority's "robo trains" - as those opposed to it have labeled the new driving technology.

14 February 2005, New York Daily News, suburban section, pg. 1:
COMMUTERS IN L OF A FIX
Robo-plan disrupts service
By HUGH SON

ATTENTION L-TRAIN riders: Don't miss the last late-night train back to Brooklyn, or you could end up paying a hefty cab fare.

Starting tonight, the lifeline for thousands of northern Brooklyn straphangers will shut down from midnight to 5 a.m. The service cut will last four months, Transit Authority officials said.

The MTA is installing a new computerized system, the so-called robo-train, to start in June, and L riders should expect "extensive service disruptions" until then, said TA spokesman Charles Seaton.

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