North–South Expressway Southern Route

Route background

The North–South Expressway Southern Route begins in the southern part of Kuala Lumpur, at Sungai Besi. Its southern terminus (Kilometre Zero) is at Pandan, Johor Bahru.

Sungai Besi to Nilai North

The expressway begins at the Sungai Besi Toll Plaza. The Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway E37 links Sungai Besi toll plaza to Jalan Istana and the BESRAYA Expressway E9 near the Sungai Besi RMAF base.

Nilai North to Seremban

From this point the expressway enters Negeri Sembilan, running southwesterly towards Nilai. The interchange to ELITE E6 lies in the northern part of Nilai, near the Selangor-Negeri Sembilan border, enabling motorists from the south to Shah Alam and Klang while bypassing Kuala Lumpur.

Ayer Keroh to Pagoh

The expressway entering four lane dual carriageway.

Skudai to Johor Bahru

On the last segment, the expressway finally terminates at its interchange with the Johor Bahru Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway (EDL), which is also designated the route number E14.

Speed limits

Most of the expressway enforces a maximum speed limit of 110 km/h (68 mph). Signed exceptions include:

There are no signed minimum speed limits.

Features

The Sungai Besi toll plaza has the second highest number of toll booths in Malaysia, thus making the stretch of highway at the Sungai Besi toll plaza the second widest road in Malaysia with more than 18 lanes (excluding additional toll booths) before Batu Kawan toll plaza at Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge (Penang Second Bridge) which has 28 lanes. The Pagoh-Yong Peng (North) section is the longest stretch of the North-South Expressway network. This 47-kilometre stretch passes Mount Maokil and the plains of Seri Medan and Sungai Sarang Buaya.

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 Sultan Iskandar Building checkpoint and at Kempas. The ticket system from Skudai northwards uses an integrated system of tolling that also applies to the North–South Expressway Central Link, New Klang Valley Expressway and North–South Expressway Northern Route (e.g. it is possible to travel from Skudai, Johor on this expressway to Juru, Penang on the North–South Expressway Northern Route without leaving the toll system). The toll rate for the ticket system for passenger cars excluding taxis as of 2011 is 13.6 sen per kilometre.

Emergency assistance and information services

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 areas

The North–South Expressway Southern Route has 8 full rest areas (which includes one overhead bridge restaurant), 20 laybys and one vista point (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 and 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 are 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 Pedas Linggi.

Six-lane widening works

The Senawang Interchange and Ayer Keroh Interchange received new four lane sections in 2003. The Ayer Keroh Interchange had two-lane carriageways until 2009, when it was upgraded to three and four lanes, ending at Sungai Besi commencing again at E37 Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway.

Phase 1: Seremban–Senawang

In July, 2007, a six lane section from Kuala Lumpur to Seremban Interchange Exit 218 was extended to Senawang Interchange Exit 220.

Phase 2: Seremban–Ayer Keroh

The next phase of these works, the extension of the Senawang Interchange Exit 220 to the Ayer Keroh Interchange Exit 231 was completed in December, 2007.

Fourth lane addition

On July 2010, the operator, PLUS Expressways Berhad, announced that the government had awarded contracts to build a fourth lane on a stretch from Nilai (North) to Seremban. The construction has already begun at the south bound, with its north bound will be begin soon.

Exit 236 Bukit Gambir Interchange

An interchange between Tangkak and Pagoh Interchange was opened to traffic on March 2014, there will be three interchange that will be linking from the interchanges to Muar, Johor.

Exit 217 Bandar Ainsdale (Seremban North) Interchange

An interchange between Nilai and Seremban Interchange was opened to traffic on 10 July 2015, there will be four interchange that will be linking from the interchanges to Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

List of key points along NSE Southern Route

Below is a list of interchanges (exits), laybys and rest and service areas along the NSE Southern route. The exits are arranged in ascending numerical order from North to South.

Legend: