North-South Expressway, Malaysia

The North–South Expressway (NSE) (Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan; Jawi: ليبوهراي اوتارا-سلتن; 南北大道) is the longest controlled-access expressway in Malaysia with the total length of about 772 km  running from Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah near the Malaysian-Thai border (connects with Phetkasem Road (Route 4) in Thailand) to Johor Bahru at the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia and to Singapore. The expressway links many major cities and towns in western Peninsular Malaysia, acting as the 'backbone' of the west coast of the peninsula. It is also known as PLUS Expressway, named after the highway's concessionaire, Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan Berhad (North South Expressway Project; abbreviated as PLUS). But today the company changed its name into Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad (PLUS) which is a company subsidiary of PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PMB).

This expressway passes through 7 states on the peninsula: Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah. It provides a faster alternative to the old Federal Route 1, thus reducing travelling time between various towns & cities. The expressway is part of the Asian Highway Network of route AH2.

Overview of the North-South Expressway
The expressway begins at the Bukit Kayu Hitam highway in Kedah, where the remainder of the stretch belongs to the AH2, and goes into the Phetkasem Road in Thailand. Then it proceeds southwards concurrently along the old A1, which has not been upgraded and is still a limited-access road.

Just to the north of the town of Jitra, route 1 continues southwards while the expressway bends southeast to bypass the said town, marking the end of the concurrency and the start of the controlled-access highway proper. Just to the east of the town is the Jitra Toll Plaza, where a one-time payment is made. After the toll plaza the expressway continues southwest, entering the district of Kota Setar and interchanging with route 1 near Kepala Batas. Shortly south is the Hutan Kampung Toll Plaza, where ticket tolling begins. The expressway runs east of the city of Alor Setar, where it makes two interchanges with the Sultanah Bahiyah Highway (route 255), both leading to aforementioned city.

From this point the expressway enters Seberang Perai Tengah, running southwesterly along the east side of Butterworth, where it makes several important interchanges, including Jalan Permatang Pauh (route 3111) leading to Permatang Pauh, the Butterworth–Kulim Expressway (expressway 15) towards Kulim and Gerik in Kedah, expressway 17 and route 1 in Perai (this is where the other end of E17 is located) as well as the Penang Bridge (expressway 36) towards the island and capital. Here the expressway bends southeast away from the coast, going towards and interchanging at the Perai Industrial Area and Juru. After Juru, the road narrows back to four lanes, followed by the Juru Toll Plaza, where the second ticket system begins. The expressway then enters Seberang Perai Selatan.

The expressway interchanges with route 149 at Bukit Tambun, connecting several industrial areas nearby. Close by at Batu Kawan, the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge (expressway 28) terminates on this expressway, connecting Bandar Cassia as well as the southwest district on the island. The last interchange in Penang is with route 1 at Jawi. The expressway then briefly re-enters the state of Kedah to interchange at Bandar Baharu, serving itself, Parit Buntar just across the border at Perak, as well as the rest of southernmost Kedah.

At this point route 1 deviates northwards to go around a hill that is part of the Tenasserim Hills cluster. The expressway proceeds towards the hill, going across the Perak River below the Sultan Azlan Shah Bridge. After the river the expressway goes uphill, through the Menora Tunnel that is about 800 m long, then downhill into the Kinta Valley. Here, the Ipoh local-express system, constructed in 2008, begins, where all traffic bound for Ipoh or its vicinity is segregated. Southbound commuters entering the local lanes pay the toll/tap out of the ticket system at the Ipoh North Toll Plaza, while northbound motorists merging in from the local lanes collect the ticket/tap into the system. Proceeding southeast through the heart of Ipoh, the expressway's local lanes interchange with several local roads as well as route 1, which begins to run parallel to the expressway again. The system ends to the south of Tambun, where commuters on the southbound local lanes collect their tickets or tap into the system at the Ipoh South Toll Plaza, while northbound motorists entering the local lanes pay their tolls.

While going southeast, the expressway crosses the Selangor River into the state of Selangor. Despite this, the next interchange, the final one with route 1, mainly serves Tanjung Malim over in the previous state. From this point, route 1 leaves the vicinity of the expressway as the expressway goes southwards and the federal route goes southeast. The expressway interchanges with several rural roads at Lembah Beringin, Bukit Tagar, the Bukit Beruntung industrial area and at Sungai Buaya. Going southwards, the expressway leaves the Hulu Selangor district into the Gombak district, where it interchanges near the Rawang industrial area with route 3209. Shortly after, the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (expressway 35) begins as an interchange on this expressway. On the last segment, the expressway interchanges with a road next to the Sungai Buloh Hospital, crosses into the Petaling district, interchanges with the Sungai Buloh Highway (route 54) at Sungai Buloh and it also connects to the Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line of the Klang Valley U-Bahn, and finally terminates at its interchange with the New Klang Valley Expressway, which is also designated the route number E1.

The longest stretch is also from the Pagoh all the way to Yong Peng. From there it also connects through the mountains of Titiwangsa.

Speed Limits
North–South Expressway is designed as a free speed expressway therefore the advisory speed limit similar to Autobahn (some stretches are speed restricted to the 110km/h, 120km/h and 130km/h) on the expressway is 110 km/h (70 mph), it is also the lowest death rate. Although there is advisory speed limit; many drivers have no general limit. Many of them uses the expressway for driving at very high speed eventually.

There are some exceptions in some places for several reasons, including:


 * 60 km/h when approaching any toll plaza.
 * 70 km/h for the local lanes and 90 km/h for the express lane, mainly to control the traffic flow of the non-stop main carriageways and the toll-free local-express lanes.
 * 80 km/h for the Bukit Lanjan Interchange
 * 80 km/h for the Kuala Kangsar - Jelapang stretch, where it goes uphill, tunnel and downhill.
 * 90 km/h for the Bukit Kayu Hitam - Jitra due to the presence of at-grade junctions.
 * 90 km/h for the Sungai Dua - Juru stretch, due to the heavy urban traffic.
 * 90 km/h for the Gopeng - Tapah stretch, passing Gua Tempurung.
 * 90 km/h for the Bukit Lanjan - Jalan Duta where it goes uphill and downhill.
 * 90 km/h for the Sungai Besi - Bangi, due to the heavy urban traffic.
 * 110 km/h for the northern parts of highway: Jitra - Alor Star, Juru - Bukit Tambun and Sungai Buloh - Bukit Lanjan.
 * 110 km/h for the southern parts of highway: Ayer Keroh - Bukit Gambir, Ayer Hitam - Yong Peng and Second Link Expressway.
 * 120 km/h for the Sungei Buloh - Tanjung Malim stretch.
 * 130 km/h for the Ipoh South - Simpang Pulai stretch, Nilai North - Bangi stretch and Seremban-Port Dickson Highway.

Generally those with police roadblocks and open tolling are speed restricted to 110 km/h. However some of the expressway stretches are 120 km/h and 130 km/h.

Tolls
Most of the expressway maintains a ticket system (closed system) of tolling. The expressway however also has two toll plazas using the barrier toll system (open system) at the Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoint and at Jitra. The ticket system from Juru southwards uses an integrated system of tolling that also applies to the New Klang Valley Expressway, North–South Expressway Central Link and North–South Expressway Southern Route (e.g. it is possible to travel from Juru on this expressway to Skudai, Johor on the North–South Expressway Southern Route without leaving the toll system). A separate ticket system is in place between Hutan Kampung and Sungai Dua, due to the toll-free section in Penang. Motorists are required to "TAMBAH" before you go in to the expressway, for those using Touch n' Go cards, and to have minimum RM20 value.

Emergency Assistance
Orange emergency telephones/callboxes are located every two kilometres along the entire expressway, as with every other expressway in the PLUS expressway network. Alternatively, commuters may dial the toll-free number 1 800 88 0000 on their mobile phones. Both will connect to the PLUS traffic monitoring centre in Subang where commuters may request for traffic information or roadside assistance. The highway patrol and roadside assistance teams are known as PLUSRonda. They provide free first responder services including small fixes for broken down vehicles, towing and also act as traffic police when there is an incident. They are also given auxiliary police powers.

PLUS also provides traffic information to commuters through variable-message signs located on some sections of the expressway, and on Twitter @plustrafik in Malay. Major radio stations in Peninsular Malaysia also broadcast traffic updates for the expressway.

Rest Points
The North–South Expressway has 21 full rest areas (which includes two overhead bridge restaurant), 38 laybys and 2 vista points (scenic area) total along both directions of the expressway. Every rest area and layby includes, as a bare minimum, car parks and public toilets. Most laybys also include public telephones and a small rest hut. Depending on location, laybys can also include petrol stations, a surau, and rarely, food courts, independently operated restaurants as well as automated teller machines. Full rest and service areas have all of the above services and are much larger, so they can accommodate more services. Several rest areas also have small inns, and most have complimentary Wi-Fi services. Vista points only have car parks and is meant for commuters to enjoy the scenery at that location. Laybys are found every 25 to 50 kilometres, while full rest areas are found every 80 to 100 kilometres. The only vista point on this expressway is in Ipoh and Pedas-Linggi.