North–South Expressway (Malaysia)
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The North-South Expressway (Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan) (NSE) is the longest expressway in Malaysia with the total length of 966 km running from Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah near the Malaysian-Thai border to Johor Bahru at southern Malaysia. The expressway links many major cities and towns in western Peninsular Malaysia, acting as the 'backbone' of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is also known as PLUS Expressway, after the highway's concessionaire, Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan (North South Highway Project).
It is divided into a few main routes; E1 (northern route from Bukit Kayu Hitam to Kuala Lumpur) which also incorporates the Penang Bridge, E2 (southern route from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru). The New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), part of the E1 route, starts from Bukit Raja, Klang to Jalan Duta exit in Kuala Lumpur. The North-South Expressway Central Link (E6), opened in 1999, is a highway built to bypass Kuala Lumpur. It starts from the Shah Alam interchange on the NKVE (E1), past Subang Jaya, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and ends at the Nilai Utara interchange on the E2. The E3 is the Second Link (Linkedua) which is another bridge that links Malaysia and Singapore starting at Senai Airport and ends in Tanjung Kupang before crossing. PLUS also obtained the Seremban - Port Dickson Highway, E29, which starts at Mambau in Seremban with an interchange at Lukut and ending near the town centre in Port Dickson.
E1 and E2 are ended temporarily in Kuala Lumpur. The E1 from the North becomes the New Klang Valley Expressway which further links into the NSE Central Link or for people travelling to Kuala Lumpur exit at the Jalan Duta Toll Plaza which links to the SPRINT Expressway (E23) and the MRR I. The E2 from the South ends in Sungai Besi which then changes into the KL - Seremban Highway with interchanges to the Federal Highway Route 2, Sungai Besi Highway and heads towards the city centre.
Technical specifications
- Name: North-South Expressway
- Concession holder: Plus Expressway Berhad
- Length: 966 km
- Concession starting date: May 1988
- Concession ending date: May 2018
- Highway exits: 75
- Toll plazas: 65
- Layby:
- Rest and Service Areas:
- Overhead Bridge Restaurant: 2
- Vista Point: 3
- Highway tunnels: 1
Generally the expressway consists of 4 lanes, 2 for each directions but there are some stretches with 6 lanes:-
- Kuala-Lumpur Seremban Expressway, Sungai Besi to Seremban
- New Klang Valley Expressway
- Bukit Lanjan to Rawang
- Juru to Sungai Dua, located at Penang.
- ELITE Expressway, E6, (Bandar Baru Nilai to Shah Alam)
Recently, plans to upgrade the stretches from Tanjung Malim to Rawang and Seremban to Melaka has been approved by the government for better traffic flow within those stretches. The Jelapang toll plaza and Ipoh Selatan toll plaza at Ipoh will be moved to another places to make away for non-stop straight line between Jelapang and Ipoh south. This measured is to avoid an accidents areas at Jelapang toll plaza.
Highways of PLUS
- E1 and E2: North-South Expressway (NSE)
- E6: North-South Expressway Central Link (NSECL/ELITE)
- E3: Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing (MSSC/LINKEDUA)
- E29: Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH)
- E1: New Klang Valley Expressway (Part of NSE)
- 2: Federal Highway Route 2 (FHR2)
- Penang Bridge
Speed limit
North-South Expressway is designed as a high-speed long distance expressway therefore the default speed limit on the North-South Expressway is 110 km/h, but there are some exceptions in some places for several reasons, including:-
- Kuala Kangsar-Jelapang stretch: 80 km/h (highland stretch with dangerous corners)
- Gua Tempurung stretch: 90 km/h (highland stretch)
- Bukit Lanjan exit: 80 km/h (to control traffic flow of NKVE and the main link of northern route to avoid accidents)
- Sungai Besi to Bangi: 90 km/h (due to high traffic capacity)
- Alor Gajah-Ayer Keroh: 90km/h (due to strong crosswind)
Toll system
The North-South expressway is a toll expressway with two toll systems:-
- Open system - Users only have to pay at certain toll plazas within the open system range for a fixed amount.
- Closed system - Users collect toll tickets before entering the expressway at respective toll plazas and pay an amount of toll at the exit toll plaza. The toll rate in this system is based on the distance traveled.
The class of the vehicle ranging from class 0 (motorcycles), 1 (cars), 2 (light trucks with only 2 axles), 3 (heavy trucks and lorries with 3 axles or more), 4 (buses)and 5 (taxis) also determine the price of the toll fare in both systems. On the PLUS Highway system, motorcycles are exempted except on the Penang Bridge, Tanjung Kupang Toll Plaza on Malaysia-Singapore Second Link and Seremban - Port Dickson Highway.
Facilities along the expressway
- Rest and service areas located about 60 km from each other
- Layby parking areas located about every 2 toll plazas
- Overhead restaurants at Ayer Keroh, Sungai Buloh and USJ.
- Emergency phones every 2 km
- PLUS Ronda service to assist in case of sudden engine breakdown on the expressway
General facts about the expressway
- North-South Expressway is Malaysia's first long-distance expressway as well as Malaysia's longest expressway.
- Menora Tunnel was once became Malaysia's longest highway tunnel at the time of its construction.
- Sungai Besi toll plaza is the widest road in Malaysia with over 18 lanes (excluding additional toll booths).
- The longest bridge along the expressway is Sungai Perak Bridge (Jambatan Sultan Azlan Shah) with the length of 300 m.
- North-South Expressway is the first expressway in Malaysia that provides overhead bridge restaurants.
- The longest flyover bridge along the NSE network is Batu Tiga flyover in the North-South Expressway Central Link.
- The most expensive section of the expressway is the Gopeng-Tapah section. At RM200 millions, it translate to RM 20 millions per kilometre. Embankment strengthening is the major contributor for this escalating cost.
- The ELITE Speedway in USJ Layby on North-South Expressway Central Link is the first highway go-kart circuit in Malaysia.
- North-South Expressway forms 80% of Malaysian part of the Asian Highway Network, specifically Asian Highway Route 2. The other expressways in Malaysia included in the route are Skudai Highway, Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 and Johor Causeway.
History
The planning of the national expressway started in the mid-1970's. In 1977, the Malaysian Department of Works received official instructions to draw plans of an expressway from the Malaysia-Thailand border (Bukit Kayu Hitam) to the Johor Causeway. In 1980, the Malaysian Highway Authority was established to monitor all the work progress of the first national expressway.
At that time, all construction works of the expressway between 1981 to 1988 was solely administered by Malaysian Highway Authority before being transferred to Plus Expressways Berhad in 1988. As the construction works continued, segments of the highway were opened to traffic as they were finished to help fund the construction works. Plus Expressway Berhad continued all the construction works from 1988 until completion in 1994, 15 months earlier than scheduled. The expressway was officially opened on September 8, 1994 by Malaysian prime minister at that time, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad.
Measures to Reduce Accidents
Most heavy vehicles are only allowed to travel 80/90 km/h by law and considering that two lanes is inadequate, the expressway is undergoing widening as a result of the increasing number of fatal accidents along this highway. It had been recently decided that the two-lane 110km/h highway will be upgraded to a three-lane 110km/h highway. Highway widening has begun in 2006 as an accident reducing measure.
Trivia
- The N-S highway is Malaysia's unofficial autobahn. Although there's a strict speed limit of 110km/h on the highway, most of the drivers ignore the speed limit outside Johor.
- Unlike Germany's Autobahn, it is totally legal to flash the highbeam to demand the slower cars in front to give way.
- Speed trap cameras are more prevalent along the Johor stretch of the highway. As a consequence, speeding within Johor borders is less common.
- Malaysian Police have resorted to posting the speeding car's number plate at their website and will only ask you to pay the fine if you enter the country.
List of Interchange
- see also NSE northern route
- see also NSE southern route
- see also NKVE
- see also North-South Expressway Central Link
- see also Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing
- see also Seremban-Port Dickson Highway
