NTSB probes cause of Angels Flight derailment

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal officials are investigating last week's derailment of historic Angels Flight, the tiny downtown Los Angeles funicular railway with a history of safety problems.

The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/15MFLWO ) the National Transportation Safety Board will issue a report and recommendations after it determines what caused one of the two rail cars to come off the tracks Thursday.

No one was hurt, but six people were helped off the train. Only one was riding on the derailed car.

Angels Flight, dubbed "the shortest railway in the world," could be shut down for months during the investigation.

The newspaper reports officials from the California Public Utilities Commission and Angels Flight Railway President John Welborne spent Monday afternoon inspecting the rail line, running tests and gathering documentation.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com