Angels Flight funicular to reopen Monday

The Angels Flight railway will once again ferry passengers beginning Monday, nine years after a rail car broke loose and killed a man and injured several other people.

The California Public Utilities Commission last week approved the safety certificate for the historic downtown L.A. rail line, which runs up and down Bunker Hill.

Passenger service will resume at 6:45 a.m. Monday from the lower station on Hill Street. Service runs daily until 10 p.m. The 63-second ride costs 25 cents.

The funicular was closed in 2001 after a car broke loose and sped backward for almost a block before smashing into another rail car at the bottom of the hill. The accident killed an 83-year-old man and injured seven other people. Federal investigators concluded that faulty mechanical and brake systems, combined with weak oversight, were to blame.

Last week, the PUC concluded that it had no major safety concerns regarding the rail line, which is operated by a nonprofit foundation.

Angels Flight was designed to connect downtown with the residential community on Bunker Hill. But the city demolished that neighborhood as part of a 1960s redevelopment push and the railway foundered. The funicular was revived in 1996 after years of effort by preservationists.

--Julie Cart

Comments

[r. russell]

Yeah! There is actually quite a bit to show out-of-town guests now in downtown LA. Music Center, cathedral, and now the "fun"icular.

[Ed Sterbenz]

I hope they run 100 years with no accidents.

[Marisa Catalano from Venice, Italy]

Olivet and Sinai! Yes, finally!
I'm so glad to hear that. It's time to visit LA again.

“Los Angeles, give me some of you! Los Angeles come to me the way I came to you, my feet over your streets, you pretty town I loved you so much, you sad flower in the sand, you pretty town.” - John Fante, “Ask the Dust”

[Pete Cicero]

Funiculi, funicula(r)!

[Searking]

Finally! I'll be sure to stop by over spring break and ride the funicular that I've been wanting to ride for 5 years now.

[Norm Silver]

I used to ride this daily in the late '50s to and from work. It will be nice to see it operating again. The views are great.

[Shaddy Zeineddine]

The actually started operating it today (sunday)!

[ricky]

my princess was only 5 back then got on it once and then was close now shes 14 and we can wait to get back on it thanks for bring in it back california plaza here we come

[Mark]

On Sunday my girlfriend and I had just finished having lunch at California Pizza Kitchen on Bunker Hill, across the street from the Watercourt Plaza. As we left CPK, I realized we still had about an hour before the 2:00 p.m. L.A. Philharmonic concert would begin, up the block at Disney Hall. So we crossed Grand to check out the progress on Angels' Flight, and suprise, it was having a pre-opening weekend with no line to get on. We bought 2 round trip tickets, and rode Sinai down and back up, with only 4 other riders on the train! It was a nice prelude to the Beethoven 3rd piano concerto at Disney Hall. If you've got a minute and a quarter, you can take the Flight.