Java 8 - Remove repeated sequence of elements from a List

Another concise syntax would be

AtomicReference<Character> previous = new AtomicReference<>(null);
Stream.of('a', 'b', 'b', 'a').filter(cur -> !cur.equals(previous.getAndSet(cur)));

You can use IntStream to get hold of the index positions in the List and use this to your advantage as follows :

List<String> acc = IntStream
            .range(0, list.size())
            .filter(i -> ((i < list.size() - 1 && !list.get(i).equals(list
                    .get(i + 1))) || i == list.size() - 1))
            .mapToObj(i -> list.get(i)).collect(Collectors.toList());
System.out.println(acc);

Explanation

1. IntStream.range(0,list.size()) : Returns a sequence of primitive int-valued elements which will be used as the index positions to access the list.
2. filter(i -> ((i < list.size() - 1 && !list.get(i).equals(list.get(i + 1) || i == list.size() - 1)) : Proceed only if the element at current index position is not equal to the element at the next index position or if the last index position is reached
3. mapToObj(i -> list.get(i) : Convert the stream to a Stream<String>.
4. collect(Collectors.toList()) : Collect the results in a List.

You might use a custom Collector to achieve your goal. Please find details below:

Stream<String> lines =  Files.lines(Paths.get("distinct.txt"));
LinkedList<String> values = lines.collect(Collector.of(
            LinkedList::new,
            (list, string) -> {
                if (list.isEmpty())
                    list.add(string);
                else if (!string.equals(list.getLast()))
                    list.add(string);
            },
            (left, right) -> {
                left.addAll(right);
                return left;
            }
    ));

values.forEach(System.out::println);

However it might have some issues when parallel stream is used.