Remembering the Albion Ferry that carried folks from Langley to Maple Ridge | Daily Hive

The MV Kulleet (Duane Cooke)

It has been almost exactly 16 years since the Albion Ferry sailed for the last time, a route that took folks between Fort Langley and Maple Ridge.

The Albion Ferry route, which was operated by TransLink and travelled across the Fraser River, was introduced in 1957.

Several vessels travelled the route, which was in service for over 50 years before its last voyage. Occasionally, BC Ferries would offer loaners when the main ferries were undergoing maintenance. The two main vessels, the MV Kulleet and the MV Klatawa, were both eventually sold.

Once the Golden Ears Bridge was built, the route was essentially obsolete. TransLink graciously offered Daily Hive Urbanized some info and history about the route.

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The Albion Ferries were K-class ferries, also known as K-barges, because of their hull and size. Both BC Ferries and TransLink operated vessels of this type.

The two primary ships that ran the Albion-Fort Langley route between the late 1970s and 2009 were the MV Kulleet and the MV Klatawa (both names of Indigenous origin), and were both built in the early 1970s, featuring a top speed of 10 knots. The passenger and crew capacity for both ships was 150.

TransLink

Before these two ships entered service, another vessel, the T’Lagunna, serviced the route. The T’Lagunna previously served as the Agassiz Ferry. The MV Klatawa eventually replaced the T’Lagunna entirely.

According to info found online, MV Kulleet and the MV Klatawa were eventually sold for $400,000, despite an original asking price of $1.1 million. A photo included in an old TransLink Buzzer post shows the treacherous conditions the ferries would sometimes need to travel through, including large chunks of ice.

Terry Muirhead/TransLink

The last sailings for the two vessels took place on July 31, 2009.

Golden Ears Bridge makes the Albion Ferry obsolete

The Golden Ears Bridge (Steve Smith/Shutterstock)

You can’t talk about the Albion Ferry route without mentioning the Golden Ears Bridge, which ultimately led to the former’s demise for the sake of improved accessibility between the regions it served.

In June 2009, the Golden Ears Bridge was opened to the public, and it cut travel times across the Fraser River by 20 to 30 minutes.

“The Golden Ears Bridge is the critical link across the Fraser River that will dramatically
improve the movement of people and goods through the region,” said Malcolm Brodie, who was the TransLink chair at the time.

“By engaging the private sector’s ability to deliver an innovative design and take accountability for both the construction and the management of project risks, TransLink will deliver a facility that the region has needed for decades, on time and on budget.”

The total capital cost for the project was $808 million. When the bridge first opened, it did so with tolls and rates were set by TransLink. Those tolls were eliminated almost a decade later. Port Mann tolls were also eliminated.

TransLink is also making regular payments to the private consortium that designed and built the Golden Ears Bridge, and has an operating, maintenance, and rehabilitation concessionaire contract through June 2041, all under a public-private partnership.

Fond memories

Terry Muirhead/TransLink

Comments on some of the TransLink Buzzer blog posts about the Albion Ferry serve as a bit of a time capsule into how fondly people felt about the ships.

“Sad to see it go. Would love to see it operate every half an hour (with one ferry) with the same toll as Golden Ears. Fort Langley to 200 Avenue isn’t THAT short of a drive in heavy traffic,” one person commented back in July 2009.

“My fondest memory of the Albion Ferry was when I was riding on my little 50cc scooter from Fort Langley. I went by a lineup of cars, and just as the ferry was about to leave the dock, they saw me coming, so they held on for a few more seconds. Good times,” someone else said around the same period.

Do you have any memories of the Albion Ferry? Share them in the comments.

With files from Kenneth Chan