CBTC finally makes its L line debut

After years of delays, millions of dollars in cost overuns and countless weekend service changes, communications-based train control made its L line debut this morning at 12:22 a.m. The system will allow NYC Transit to decrease headways on the BMT Canarsie line and add trains to a line badly overcrowded. For now, the computer-controlled trains will run only during overnight and off-peak hours before the MTA expands their use into the rush hour time frames. Additionally, both the conductors and motormen will remain on board — the motorman in case something goes wrong and the conductor because the Transit Workers Union objected to the removal. It’s forward progress in technology resisted by the union, and it’s a long, long time coming.