Cheapsters can now ride the newly reopened Angels Flight for a quarter.
By Emily Burnett
“Built in 1901 by Colonel J.W. Eddy, lawyer, engineer and friend of President Lincoln, Angels Flight is said to be the world’s shortest incorporated railway. The counterbalanced cars, controlled by cables, travel a 33 percent grade for 315 feet. It is estimated that Angels Flight has carried more passengers per mile than any other railway in world, over a hundred million in its first fifty years.”
– plaque near top of Angel’s Flight
Built to transport people up and down the steep Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles, the original Angels Flight funicular railway was closed in 1969 when Bunker Hill was redeveloped. In 1996 the railway was rebuilt and reopened about a half-block south of the original site, using the original cars. It was then closed again in 2001 due to an accident resulting in a fatality and several injuries.
Angels Flight, now restored and brought up to safety standards, reopened on March 15, 2010. So now Los Angelenos can (safely) ride this piece of L.A. history…for only 25 cents!
You can board Angels Flight at the top (through California Plaza, from Grand Avenue) or the bottom (351 South Hill St., 90013), and you pay the fare at the top, where they give you a nifty “souvenir” ticket. It’s 25 cents one way, or 50 cents round trip. Trains run every few minutes, so you never have to wait very long. The seats don’t look that comfortable, but they’re perfectly fine considering the ride only lasts 40 seconds (slightly less time and much less energy than it would take to walk up the hillside, or all the way around the block).
Location: 351 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Schedule: 6:45am to 10:00pm, 365 days a year.
Transportation: Ride the Metro Red Line from North Hollywood or Union Station (or Purple Line from Wilshire/Western or Union Station) to the Pershing Square Station, exiting on the 4th Street side. (If you exit 5th Street/Pershing Square, just walk a block and a half north.) You will see Angels Flight on the west side of the street across from La Cita and Taco House #1.
You may recognize the Angels Flight hillside as the one cleared by goats a year and a half ago.
A number of buses also go downtown. From Santa Monica / Westwood / Echo Park (and many places in between), you could ride the 2 or the 4 line to 4th and Hill Street downtown. To leave downtown, you would catch the bus on 4th and Broadway (a block east of Hill) heading north.
Off of Wilshire from west of downtown, you could catch the 720 or 920, then get off at Wilshire/Western where you can catch the Purple Line mentioned above.
Fare: $1.25 per ride, or $5.00 for a day pass—TAP Card required for day pass and may be purchased at Metro vending machines in rail station. Note: Metro is raising fares to $1.50 per ride and $6.00 for a day pass starting July 1.
“Built in 1901 by Colonel J.W. Eddy, lawyer, engineer and friend of President Lincoln, Angels Flight is said to be the world’s shortest incorporated railway. The counterbalanced cars, controlled by cables, travel a 33 percent grade for 315 feet. It is estimated that Angels Flight has carried more passengers per mile than any other railway in world, over a hundred million in its first fifty years.” – plaque near top of Angel’s Flight
Built to transport people up and down the steep Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles, the original Angels Flight funicular railway was closed in 1969 when Bunker Hill was redeveloped. In 1996 the railway was rebuilt and reopened about a half-block south of the original site, using the original cars. It was then closed again in 2001 due to an accident resulting in a fatality and several injuries.
Angels Flight, now restored and brought up to safety standards, reopened on March 15, 2010. So now Los Angelenos can (safely) ride this piece of L.A. history…for only 25 cents!
You can board Angels Flight at the top (through California Plaza, from Grand Avenue) or the bottom (351 South Hill St., 90013), and you pay the fare at the top, where they give you a nifty “souvenir” ticket. It’s 25 cents one way, or 50 cents round trip. Trains run every few minutes, so you never have to wait very long. The seats don’t look that comfortable, but they’re perfectly fine considering the ride only lasts 40 seconds (slightly less time and much less energy than it would take to walk up the hillside, or all the way around the block).
Location: 351 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Schedule: 6:45am to 10:00pm, 365 days a year.
Transportation:
Ride the Metro Red Line from North Hollywood or Union Station (or Purple Line from Wilshire/Western or Union Station) to the Pershing Square Station, exiting on the 4th Street side. (If you exit 5th Street/Pershing Square, just walk a block and a half north.) You will see Angels Flight on the west side of the street across from La Cita and Taco House #1.
You may recognize the Angels Flight hillside as the one cleared by <a href=”http://blogdowntown.com/2008/09/3595-downtown-gets-its-goats”>goats</a> a year and a half ago.
A number of buses also go downtown. From Santa Monica / Westwood / Echo Park (and many places in between), you could ride the 2 or the 4 line to 4th and Hill Street downtown. To leave downtown, you would catch the bus on 4th and Broadway (a block east of Hill) heading north.
Off of Wilshire from west of downtown, you could catch the 720 or 920, then get off at Wilshire/Western where you can catch the Purple Line mentioned above.
Fare: $1.25 per ride, or $5.00 for a day pass—TAP Card required for day pass and may be purchased at Metro vending machines in rail station. Note: Metro is raising fares to $1.50 per ride and $6.00 for a day pass starting July 1.
