BANGKOK, Sept 28 (TNA) – The cabinet on Tuesday approved a budget of 3.85 billion baht to build the country’s first train station that will also offer medical services.
Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said the budget would be for the construction of the Siriraj electric railway station that would also offer medical treatment by nearby Siriraj Hospital.
The Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital of Mahidol University, the State Railway of Thailand and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the country’s first station of mass transit and public health services, Ms Rachada said.
According to the spokeswoman, the Orange Line of the MRTA and the Light Red Rain of the SRT will intersect at Siriraj Hospital.
The new train-hospital building at the Siriraj station will serve outpatients and help relieve congestion at the old Siriraj Hospital. It will be built on a 4.67-rai land plot of the SRT near the Bangkok Noi Canal. The SRT will lease out the plot for 30 years.
The new facility will have 15 floors and a parking lot for 79 vehicles. It will be completed in 32 months.
At present, Siriraj Hospital has 2,100 beds and serves about 3 million outpatients and 83,000 inpatients per year. (TNA)
