Angels Flight, World’s Shortest Railway

Historic cable car which closed nine years ago, after a terrible accident has been operated again in the city of Los Angeles on Monday (15/3/2010).

Angels Flight with a length of 91 meters, which is dubbed the most short tracks in the world, operates from 6:45 am until 22:00 local time, after the California Public Safety Commission decided to secure for public service last Wednesday.

John H. Welborne, president of Angels Flight Railway Foundation, said there may be an inconvenience for the service to passengers, because it still will perform the closing at noon in order to evaluate the safety of the new system.

Angels Flight was closed on February 1, 2001, after a train carriage fell down the hill in the lane and collided with a vehicle under the hill. A 83-year-old man was killed in the accident and seven others injured.

Lane on the hillside, which is operated by the nonprofit Angels Flight Railway Foundation, provides public transportation between the station under Hill Street and the California Plaza on Grand Avenue at the top of Bunker Hill.

The train consisted of two carriages, which was named Sinai and Olivet and drawn up by a metal cable with the energy from the top of the hill. The price ticket for one trip is 25 U.S. cents.

“We plan to maintain one-way passenger fee of 25 cents for it economically possible,” said Welborne.

The cable train has been operating in two different lines, using the same original carriages from 1901. The first Angels Flight operated from 1901 until closing in 1969, when its location improved.

The second operation is run nearby in 1996, and closed again in 2001, after the deadly accident. The cable train has several times scheduled to be operated again.

As the only cable car in Los Angeles, Angels Flight has been a hallmark of the city. The train had already appeared in various famous movies Hollywood and entered into the List of National Historic Places in 2000.

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