Four days after its restart, Angels Flight is shut down for maintenance

Well, that was a pretty short run, wasn’t it?

Four days after the much-ballyhooed restart of Angels Flight, the famed funicular that climbs Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles is idled again — temporarily.

“Note that the railway will be closed for maintenance on Labor Day and for several days thereafter,” reads a blurb on www.angelsflight.org, which advises readers to check back for updates.

The railway’s twin cars, Olivet and Sinai, resumed operation Thursday after being out of service since 2013.

Opened on New Year’s Eve in 1901 a half block north of its current location, Angels Flight once carried well-to-do Bunker Hill residents to jobs downtown for a penny a ride.

By the 1950s, it had carried more than 100 million passengers, but closed in 1969 as Bunker Hill’s old housing came down to make way for skyscrapers.

The twin rail cars sat neglected in a warehouse for decades until redevelopment authorities included funding for renovations in the California Plaza project. Angels Flight reopened at its new location in 1996.

In 2001, Sinai broke loose near the top of the incline and plummeted down the track, striking Olivet, killing one person and injuring seven others. The railway was closed for nine years.

Operations were halted again in 2011, and Angels Flight was shut down altogether after a derailment in 2013.

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Times staff writer Nina Agrawal contributed to this report.

ALSO

Angels Flight: How it works and what it’s been through in its 100-year history

Angels Flight is climbing again after four-year shutdown

Board the Angels Flight railway for a short, steep trip through downtown L.A.