Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway

East Coast Expressway
Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway Lebuhraya Kuala Lumpur–Karak
Route information
Part of AH 141
Maintained by ANIH Berhad
Length	60 km (37 mi)
Existed	1974–present
History	Completed in 1979
Major junctions
Southwest end	Template:JKR Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 at Gombak, Selangor
Major intersections	Template:JKR Jalan Gombak–Bentong Genting Sempah–Genting Highlands Highway Template:JKR Jalan Sambung Kuala Lumpur/Karak–Bentong Template:JKR Kuala Lumpur–Kota Bharu Highway Template:JKR Central Spine Road Template:JKR Jalan Kuantan–Kuala Lumpur
Northeast end	Template:MES-E East Coast Expressway at Karak, Pahang
Location
Country	Malaysia
Primary destinations	Gombak, Genting Highlands, Bukit Tinggi, Bentong, Karak
Highway system
Highways in Malaysia Expressways Federal State

The Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway Template:MES-E is a 60-kilometer (37 mi) interstate controlled-access highway in Peninsular Malaysia. It runs between the town of Gombak in Selangor to the southwest and Karak in Pahang to the northeast. The expressway was previously a single-carriageway trunk road forming part of federal route 2; this designation has been kept after the upgrade in 1997. It shares its designation with the East Coast Expressway proper that succeeds it.

The highway has many hairpin bends and many stretches pass through remote forested terrain. Vehicular accidents, many of them fatal, have often occurred on the highway. Because of its remoteness and high number of accidents, the expressway has developed a reputation for being haunted (Example The Legend of The Volkswagen Kuning In English it means Yellow Volkswagen) (see List of reportedly haunted highways).

Route description

The expressway begins at Gombak, Selangor and its interchange with the Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2. Next, the expressway passes the Titiwangsa Range and the Genting Sempah Tunnel towards Genting Sempah at the border with Pahang.

The section between Bentong and Karak is the sole route from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan and vice versa, as Jalan Gombak, which serves as the toll-free alternative for the expressway, ends at Ketari, Bentong. At Karak, route 2 splits off, heading southeast towards the town proper while the expressway heads northeast to meet the East Coast Expressway.

History

Two-lane federal highway

Kuala Lumpur–Karak Highway was originally built in the 1970s by the government of Malaysia as an alternative for the winding, narrow route 68 which runs from Gombak in Kuala Lumpur to Bentong, Pahang. The highway is also a part of route 2. The highway included a 900-metre tunnel at Genting Sempah, which became Malaysia's first highway tunnel ever constructed. It was officially opened in 1979 by the former Minister of Works and Communications, Abdul Ghani Gilong.

However, the cost of the construction of this highway was considered as expensive for Malaysia which at that time was an agricultural country. Therefore, the government decided to make Kuala Lumpur–Karak Highway as a toll road to help cover all the construction works. As a result, two toll gates were constructed at Gombak and Bentong and the toll road was administered under Malaysian Highway Authority. The highway was officially opened to traffic in 1977.

Signage indicating approaching exit to Bukit Tinggi, Pahang

Multi-lane expressway

The importance of Kuala Lumpur–Karak Highway as the main road from Kuala Lumpur to eastern states of Peninsular Malaysia resulted in the government's decision to upgrade the highway to a multi-lane expressway by duplicating the whole highway stretch at another side. Thus, the former two-lane highway become a dual-carriageway with six lanes (three in each direction) from Kuala Lumpur to Genting Highlands exit and four lanes (two in each direction) for the rest of the expressway.

The upgrading works also included the construction of a second tunnel located beside the existing tunnel to provide additional two lanes for eastbound traffic, widening the toll gates at Gombak and Bentong and also constructing interchanges to replace junctions. However, some junctions were impossible to be upgraded to interchanges due to their geographical locations and therefore some U-turns were constructed to provide entry and exit to the junction for the opposite direction of the expressway. The expressway has two separate carriageway at Genting Sempah in Selangor–Pahang border (one for Selangor side and one for Pahang side) due to their geographical locations. The upgrade works of the expressway was completed in 1997.

MTD Prime held the concession to operate the expressway. The expressway acquired its official route number, E8, at completion, which resulted in overlapping route numbers. As a result, some maps labelled the expressway as E8 and some other maps labelled the expressway as federal route 2.

On 7 April 2011, ANIH Berhad became the concession holder after taking over operations from MTD Prime Sdn Bhd and Metramac Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Major events

• 28 January 1990 – 17 people including 11 FRU riot police personal were killed in a collision between Federal Reserve Unit riot police vehicles, a tanker lorry, a passenger bus and 10 cars at kilometre 32.5 of the highway not far from Genting Sempah Tunnel in Gombak, Selangor.
• 11 November 2015 – A landslide has occurred at km 52.4 of the Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway between Lentang and Bukit Tinggi, Pahang due to heavy rains. The Lentang–Bukit Tinggi stretch of the expressway was closed to traffic.
• 18 December 2021 -- A storm caused the highway to be blocked in three places by floodwater, mud and forest debris.

Toll systems

The Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway using opened toll system.

Electronic Toll Collections (ETC)

As part of an initiative to facilitate faster transaction at the Gombak and Bentong Toll Plazas, all toll transactions at both toll plazas on the Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway have been conducting electronically via Touch 'n Go cards or SmartTAGs starting 9 September 2015.

Toll rates

(Starting 15 October 2015)

Class	Type of vehicles	Rate (in Malaysian Ringgit (RM))
		Gombak	Bentong
0	Motorcycles, bicycles or vehicles with 2 or less wheels	Free
1	Vehicles with 2 axles and 3 or 4 wheels excluding taxis	6.00	3.50
2	Vehicles with 2 axles and 5 or 6 wheels excluding buses	12.00	7.00
3	Vehicles with 3 or more axles	18.00	10.50
4	Taxis	3.00	1.80
5	Buses	5.00	3.00

Interchange list

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
		Gombak North Interchange	Template:JKR AH 141 Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 Southwest AH 141 Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur Kepong Template:MES-E Sentul Template:JKR Rawang Template:MES-E Ipoh Template:MES-E Petaling Jaya Southeast Ulu Klang Ampang Cheras Template:MES-E Kajang Template:MES-E AH 2 Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Template:Airport signs Template:MES-E AH 2 Johor Bahru Template:MES-E AH 2 Melaka Template:MES-E AH 2 Seremban Template:MES-E Shah Alam Template:MES-E Klang	Directional T expressway interchange
Template:JKR Template:JKR AH 141 Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 Start/end of highway JKR border limit
East Coast Expressway Template:JKR AH 141 Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway Start/end of expressway ANIH Berhad border limit
Template:MES-E 19 Template:JKR 19
Gombak toll plaza GBK Template:TnG Template:TAG MyRFID Template:TAG Template:TnG Opened toll systems Pay toll
Template:MES-E 19.9 Template:JKR 19.9		Template:Parking Layby signs Gombak toll plaza GBK	Template:Parking signs Template:TnG TAG	East Coast bound
Template:MES-E 20 Template:JKR 20		Template:Parking Layby signs Gombak Layby	Template:Parking signs Template:Toilet sign Layby	East Coast bound
Template:MES-E 20.1 Template:JKR 20.1
		UIA Interchange	Template:MES-E KL Node Expressway North Rawang Kuala Selangor South Kajang Hulu Langat Ampang Ulu Klang	Interchange Under planning
		Template:Parking Layby signs BH Petrol BH Petrol Layby	Template:Parking signs Template:Petrol station signs BH Petrol	East Coast bound
		Template:Parking Layby signs Gombak Layby	Template:Parking signs Template:Toilet sign Template:Food court sign Template:Surau sign Layby Lemang stalls	West Coast bound
		Template:JPJ Malaysian Road Transport Department (JPJ) Enforcement Stations	Template:JPJ Malaysian Road Transport Department (JPJ) Enforcement Stations	East Coast bound
		Sungai Gombak bridge ---m above sea level
		Kampung Hulu Gombak ---m above sea level
		U-Turn ---m above sea level	U-Turn
		Template:Parking Layby signs Lemang stalls ---m above sea level	Template:Parking signs Layby Lemang stalls	East Coast bound
Template:MES-E 30 Template:JKR 30		---m above sea level
Template:MES-E 30.5 Template:JKR 30.5		---m above sea level
Template:MES-E 31 Template:JKR 31		---m above sea level
Template:MES-E 31.5 Template:JKR 31.5		---m above sea level
		---m above sea level		Start/end of separated carriageway
		Viaduct ---m above sea level		Kuala Lumpur bound, Engage lower gear West coast bound
		---m above sea level		Kuala Lumpur bound, Engage lower gear Start/end of separated carriageway
		Viaduct ---m above sea level		Kuala Lumpur bound, Engage lower gear
		Viaduct ---m above sea level		Kuala Lumpur bound, Engage lower gear
	803A	Genting Sempah Interchange 570m above sea level	803A Template:JKR Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway Template:JKR Genting Highlands Template:JKR Gohtong Jaya Institut Aminuddin Baki	Expressway interchange From/to West Coast only
		Genting Sempah Tunnel 700 metres		Start/end of tunnel
Selangor Darul Ehsan Gombak district border
Genting Sempah Tunnel 700 metres Selangor-Pahang border 570m above sea level
Pahang Darul Makmur Bentong district border
		Genting Sempah Tunnel 700 metres		Start/end of tunnel
	803	Genting Sempah Interchange 561m above sea level MTD Prime maintenance office MTD Prime Genting Sempah Tunnel Monitoring and Maintenance Centre	803 Template:JKR Genting Sempah Template:JKR Genting Highlands Template:JKR Gohtong Jaya Template:JKR(C) Janda Baik Institut Aminuddin Baki	West coast bound
		Template:RSA-OBR signs Genting Sempah Rest and Service Area 560m above sea level	Template:Parking signs Template:Petrol station signs Petronas McDonald's Template:Toilet sign Template:Food court sign Template:ATM machine signs Template:Surau sign	R&R complex
		560m above sea level		Kuantan bound, Engage lower gear Start/end of separated carriageway
	803	Genting Sempah Interchange 559m above sea level MTD Prime maintenance office MTD Prime Genting Sempah Tunnel Monitoring and Maintenance Centre	803 Template:JKR Genting Sempah Template:JKR Genting Highlands Template:JKR Gohtong Jaya Template:JKR(C) Janda Baik Institut Aminuddin Baki	U-Turn Ramp on East coast bound
		Sungai Tanglir bridge ---m above sea level		Kuantan bound, Engage lower gear East Coast bound
		Template:Parking Layby signs Template:Vista Point signs Genting Sempah vista point and truck stops ---m above sea level	Template:Parking signs Template:Vista Point signs Template:Truck stops	West Coast bound
		---m above sea level		Start/end of separated carriageway Start/end of six-lane carriageway Kuantan bound, Engage lower gear
		Sungai Tanglir bridge ---m above sea level		Kuantan bound, Engage lower gear
Template:MES-E 42 Template:JKR 42		---m above sea level		Kuantan bound, Engage lower gear
42.8
Template:MES-E 43 Template:JKR 43		Kampung Bukit Tinggi ---m above sea level	Template:JKR Kampung Bukit Tinggi Selesa Homes Golf and Country Resort	Small interchange Both directions
Template:MES-E 47 Template:JKR 47		---m above sea level
		Sungai Tanglir bridge ---m above sea level
Template:MES-E 48 Template:JKR 48	805	Bukit Tinggi Interchange ---m above sea level	Berjaya Hills Resort (Bukit Tinggi Resort)	Trumpet interchange
		Sungai Benus bridge ---m above sea level
		Template:Parking Layby signs Lentang Layby ---m above sea level	Template:Parking Layby signs Lentang Laybys Template:Parking signs Layby Lentang waterfall and forest reserve Lentang Forest Rangers Office U-Turn West Kuala Lumpur East Kuantan	Both bound
		Kampung Lentang ---m above sea level
		Sungai Gisai bridge ---m above sea level
		Sungai—bridge ---m above sea level
		U-Turn ---m above sea level	U-Turn WEST Kuala Lumpur East Kuantan
		Sungai Benus bridge ---m above sea level
		Dusun Eco Resort ---m above sea level	Dusun Eco Resort	East Coast bound
		Template:Parking Layby signs Petronas Petronas Layby ---m above sea level	Template:Parking signs Template:Petrol station signs Petronas Template:Toilet sign Template:Food court sign Template:ATM machine signs Template:Surau sign Singgah Food Court	East Coast bound
		Sungai Perting Pandak bridge ---m above sea level
		Sungai Benus bridge ---m above sea level
Bentong toll plaza BTG Template:TnG Template:TAG MyRFID Template:TAG Template:TnG Opened toll systems Pay toll
		Template:Parking Layby signs Bentong toll plaza BTG ---m above sea level	Template:Parking signs
		Template:Parking Layby signs Bentong Layby ---m above sea level	Template:Parking signs	West Coast bound
	808	Bentong West Interchange	Template:JKR Bentong Template:JKR Raub Template:JKR Kuala Lipis Template:JKR Bukit Fraser Template:JKR Cameron Highlands	East Coast bound
		MRSM Bentong
		U-Turn	U-TURN
	809	Mempaga Interchange	Template:JKR Central Spine Road Bentong Raub Gua Musang	Trumpet Interchange but no Karak exit
	810	Bentong East Interchange	Template:JKR Kuala Lumpur–Kota Bharu Highway Bentong Raub Kuala Lipis Template:JKR Bukit Fraser Template:JKR Cameron Highlands	Trumpet interchange
		Taman Benus Jaya
		Sungai Bentong bridge
		Sungai Bentong bridge
		Kampung Sungai Dua	Kampung Sungai Dua	Diamond interchange
Template:MES-E 77 Template:JKR 77	813A 813B	Karak Interchange	813A Template:JKR FELDA Mempaga Template:JKR Kampung Cinta Manis Pusat Serenti Mempaga 813B Template:JKR Karak Template:JKR Mancis Template:JKR Kuala Pilah	Semi-Trumpet interchange
East Coast Expressway Template:JKR AH 141 Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway
East Coast Expressway AH 141 East Coast Expressway
			East Template:MES-E AH 141 East Coast Expressway Template:MES-E AH 141 Kuala Terengganu Template:JKR Kuantan Template:JKR Temerloh Template:JKR Lanchang

See also

• Malaysian Expressway System
• East Coast Expressway

External links

• ANIH Berhad – concession holder of Karak Expressway
• Malaysian Highway Authority
• Exit lists of Karak Expressway