CRA Approves Plan to Resurrect Angels Flight

Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners Thursday approved a plan to resurrect the Angels Flight Railway, which for nearly 70 years carried passengers across downtown Los Angeles.

From 1901 until it was dismantled 22 years ago to make way for a redevelopment project, Angels Flight Railway provided a link between the business district and Bunker Hill, then a fashionable residential neighborhood. The funicular consisted of twin cable cars counterbalancing each other as they traveled in opposite directions on a 315-foot track on a 33% grade.

If the plan is approved by the City Council, the CRA would replace the railway, which could begin running again by the end of next year, several years ahead of schedule.