North-South Expressway (Malaysia)
The North-South Expressway ( abbr . : NSE), Malay Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan , is a Malaysian highway that runs from the Thai- Malaysian border at Bukit Kayu Hitam in the state of Kedah , along the west coast to Johor Bahru at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula runs. The NSE is also known as the Plus Expressway . North of Kuala Lumpur the motorway is signposted as E1, south of it as E2.
The NSE opened on September 8, 1994 and, with a length of 772 km, is still the longest motorway in Malaysia. For the most part, it is also part of Asian Highway 2 (AH2), which is pointed out along the way. The continuation in Thailand is the Thanon Phetkasem (signposted as Route 4) towards Hat Yai and Bangkok .
history
In the 1970s , the planning of a first expressway for the west coast of Malaysia began. In 1977 , the Ministry of Infrastructure received the order to plan this expressway, which was to connect all the important centers on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula.
Construction began in 1981 and was supervised by the Malaysian Highway Authority until the current operating company Plus Expressways Berhad was founded in 1988 . In order to receive money for ongoing construction investments, already completed sections including toll booths were put into operation.
The North-South Expressway was completed 15 months earlier than planned and was therefore inaugurated on September 8, 1994 by Mahathir bin Mohamad , the Malaysian Prime Minister.
Routing
The NSE connects many large cities on the west coast. The NSE runs from the Thai-Malaysian border in the north near Bukit Kayu Hitam in the state of Kedah via the cities of Alor Setar , Sungai Petani , Butterworth , Taiping , Ipoh , Rawang , Kuala Lumpur , Seremban , Melaka (Malacca) to Johor Bahru and the there connecting roads to Singapore .
The NSE is not continuous in Kuala Lumpur. There is a gap of about 70 km there. Nevertheless, traveling from north to south is only possible on expressways. To do this, drive around the greater Kuala Lumpur area and the federal territory of Putrajaya to the west via the New Klang Valley Expressway and the North-South Expressway Central Link .
Technical specifications
The NSE is very similar to a German federal motorway. Almost the entire route has four lanes (two lanes in each direction) and has two hard shoulders. Sections are designed with six lanes. The motorway entrances and exits are largely threaded. Emergency phones are available every two kilometers. Only the northernmost section between Bukit Kayu Hitam and Jitra (about 25 km) is also four-lane, but not laid out plan-free.
The part south of Kuala Lumpur has been given a very wide median. In large sections, a third carriageway is currently being built on this in both directions by adding them towards the middle. The advantage of this wide median is that expensive hill cuttings and dams do not have to be widened.
The substructure was built according to Western standards, as was the road surface. The route is designed for high-speed travel. The curves have a large radius and the angle of inclination is small.
The mountainous section between Gopeng and Tapah is the most expensive with 200 million ringgit per kilometer, compared to the average of 20 million RM / km.
The 800 m long Menorah Tunnel at Jelapeng is the only tunnel on the NSE and at the time of completion it was the longest on the Malay Peninsula.
Current extensions
A third lane is currently being added to the existing two lanes on several sections of the route. I.a. the entire section of the route between Kuala Lumpur and the Slim River exit will be supplemented by a lane in both directions, for which the mountain cuttings and dams on this hilly section have to be widened.
Toll system
The operating company Plus Expressways Berhad uses a closed toll system on most of the NSE: All vehicles receive tickets at the driveways and pay for the driven section at the motorway exit at a so-called Toll Plaza .
Commuters can buy a variety of cards that you hold up to your windshield when driving slowly through Toll Plaza. A computer charges a cheaper rate.
Expressway Interchange
There are motorway junctions or motorway triangles with connections to the motorways: E 1 Expressway Penang Bridge , E 1 New Klang Valley Expressway , E 6 North-South Expressway Central Link , E 29 Seremban-Port Dickson Highway , E 3 Second Link Expressway .
Technical specifications
| North-South Expressway (NSE) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| numbering | E1 (north of Kuala Lumpur), E2 (south of Kuala Lumpur) | ||||||
| Operating company | Plus Expressways Berhad | ||||||
| overall length | 15,648,029 (+ 11.6%) | ||||||
| Lanes | 4 (in sections also 6) | ||||||
| Entrances / exits | 75 | ||||||
| Toll booths | 65 | ||||||
| tunnel | 1 | ||||||