# Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway

The Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway East Coast Expressway is a 60-kilometre (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.

### 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.
* 25 July 2023 – A sinkhole near Bentong Plaza Toll appeared on KM 66.1 at 8.34pm were involved due to the East Coast Rail Link tunnel boring works. It caused the road closure on the site and ANIH Berhad forced road users to use the exit at the Bentong east exit (near the Benus industrial) and enter the Bentong west exit (near Bentong toll plaza).

## 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)) | Rate (in Malaysian Ringgit (RM)) |
| Class | Type of vehicles | Gombak | Bentong |
| 0 | Motorcycles, bicycles or vehicles with 2 or less wheels | Free | 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 |
| | 801 | Gombak North Interchange | FT 28 AH141 Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 Southwest AH141 Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur Kepong Duta–Ulu Klang Expressway Sentul FT 1 Rawang North–South Expressway Northern Route Ipoh Damansara–Puchong Expressway Petaling Jaya Southeast Ulu Klang Ampang Cheras Sungai Besi–Ulu Klang Elevated Expressway Kajang North–South Expressway Central Link AH2 Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) North–South Expressway Southern Route AH2 Johor Bahru North–South Expressway Southern Route AH2 Melaka North–South Expressway Southern Route AH2 Seremban Shah Alam Expressway Shah Alam Shah Alam Expressway Klang | Directional T expressway interchange |
| FT 28 FT 2 AH141 Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 Start/end of highway JKR border limit |||||
| East Coast Expressway FT 2 AH141 Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway Start/end of expressway ANIH Berhad border limit |||||
| East Coast Expressway 19 FT 2 19 | | | | |
| Gombak toll plaza GBK Touch 'n Go SmartTAG MyRFID SmartTAG Touch 'n Go Opened toll systems Pay toll |||||
| East Coast Expressway 19.9 FT 2 19.9 | | Gombak toll plaza GBK | TnG TAG Customer Service Centre | East Coast bound |
| East Coast Expressway 20 FT 2 20 | | Gombak Layby | Layby | East Coast bound |
| East Coast Expressway 20.1 FT 2 20.1 | | | | |
| | | UIA Interchange | East Klang Valley Expressway KL Node Expressway North Rawang Kuala Selangor South Kajang Hulu Langat Ampang Ulu Klang | Interchange Under planning |
| | | BH Petrol BH Petrol Layby | BH Petrol | East Coast bound |
| | | Gombak Layby | Layby Lemang stalls | West Coast bound |
| | | JPJ Malaysian Road Transport Department (JPJ) Enforcement Stations | 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 | |
| | | Lemang stalls ---m above sea level | Layby Lemang stalls | East Coast bound |
| East Coast Expressway 30 FT 2 30 | | ---m above sea level | | |
| East Coast Expressway 30.5 FT 2 30.5 | | ---m above sea level | | |
| East Coast Expressway 31 FT 2 31 | | ---m above sea level | | |
| East Coast Expressway 31.5 FT 2 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 FT 68 Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway FT 68 Genting Highlands FT 68 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 FT 68 Genting Sempah FT 68 Genting Highlands FT 68 Gohtong Jaya C7 Janda Baik Institut Aminuddin Baki | West coast bound |
| | | Genting Sempah Rest and Service Area 560m above sea level | Petronas McDonald's | 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 FT 68 Genting Sempah FT 68 Genting Highlands FT 68 Gohtong Jaya C7 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 |
| | | V Genting Sempah vista point and truck stops ---m above sea level | V | 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 |
| East Coast Expressway 42 FT 2 42 | | ---m above sea level | | Kuantan bound, Engage lower gear |
| 42.8 | | | | |
| East Coast Expressway 43 FT 2 43 | | Kampung Bukit Tinggi ---m above sea level | FT 68 Kampung Bukit Tinggi Selesa Homes Golf and Country Resort | Small interchange Both directions |
| East Coast Expressway 47 FT 2 47 | | ---m above sea level | | |
| | | Sungai Tanglir bridge ---m above sea level | | |
| East Coast Expressway 48 FT 2 48 | 805 | Bukit Tinggi Interchange ---m above sea level | Berjaya Hills Resort (Bukit Tinggi Resort) | Trumpet interchange |
| | | Sungai Benus bridge ---m above sea level | | |
| | | Lentang Layby ---m above sea level | Lentang Laybys 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 |
| | | Petronas Petronas Layby ---m above sea level | Petronas 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 Touch 'n Go SmartTAG MyRFID SmartTAG Touch 'n Go Opened toll systems Pay toll |||||
| | | Bentong toll plaza BTG ---m above sea level | | |
| | | Bentong Layby ---m above sea level | | West Coast bound |
| | 808 | Bentong West Interchange | FT 121 Bentong FT 8 Raub FT 8 Kuala Lipis FT 55 Bukit Fraser FT 102 Cameron Highlands | East Coast bound |
| | | MRSM Bentong | | |
| | | U-Turn | U-TURN | |
| | 809 | Mempaga Interchange | FT 34 Central Spine Road Bentong Raub Gua Musang | Trumpet Interchange but no Karak exit |
| | 810 | Bentong East Interchange | FT 8 Kuala Lumpur–Kota Bharu Highway Bentong Raub Kuala Lipis FT 55 Bukit Fraser FT 102 Cameron Highlands | Trumpet interchange |
| | | Taman Benus Jaya | | |
| | | Sungai Bentong bridge | | |
| | | Sungai Bentong bridge | | |
| | | Kampung Sungai Dua | Kampung Sungai Dua | Diamond interchange |
| East Coast Expressway 77 FT 2 77 | 813A 813B | Karak Interchange | 813A FT 1498 FELDA Mempaga FT 1498 Kampung Cinta Manis Pusat Serenti Mempaga 813B FT 2 Karak FT 9 Mancis FT 9 Kuala Pilah | Semi-Trumpet interchange |
| East Coast Expressway FT 2 AH141 Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway |||||
| East Coast Expressway AH141 East Coast Expressway |||||
| | | | East East Coast Expressway AH141 East Coast Expressway East Coast Expressway AH141 Kuala Terengganu FT 231 Kuantan FT 98 Temerloh FT 236 Lanchang | |