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JR Central's Class 923 "Doctor Yellow" set T4 on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, September 2021
Doctor Yellow (Japanese: ドクターイエロー, Hepburn: Dokutā Ierō) is the nickname for a series of high-speed diagnostic trains that are used on JR Central's Tokaido Shinkansen and JR West's San'yō Shinkansen lines. The trains have special equipment on board to monitor the condition of the track and overhead wires, including special instrumented bogies and observation blisters.[1][2] Line inspection is carried out at full speed, up to 270 km/h or 168 mph on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen.[3] Doctor Yellow trains make three round trips between Tokyo and Hakata Station every month. Depending on the day, trains follow the stopping pattern of either Nozomi or Kodama trains.[3] A similar type of diagnostic train called East i is operated by JR East on the Tōhoku Shinkansen.
"Doctor" in the name "Doctor Yellow" refers to their test and diagnostic function, and "Yellow" refers to the bright yellow livery they are painted in. The original color scheme of yellow with a blue stripe (applied to the Class 921 track-recording cars) was created by reversing the colors (blue with yellow stripe) used by track-recording cars on Japan's 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow-gauge railways. Some Doctor Yellow sets are painted with a green waistline stripe rather than a blue one. In build and appearance, they resemble the production, passenger-carrying Shinkansen trains they are based off of.
Because the schedule for this train is not made public, witnessing a Doctor Yellow in operation is a matter of chance. As a result, seeing one is believed to bring the viewer good luck or make them happy.[4][3][5]Railfans have set up websites and social media accounts to predict Doctor Yellow's arrival dates and times at stations along the route.[6]
On 13 June 2024, JR Central announced that they would terminate use of Doctor Yellow trains on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line in January 2025, with plans for farewell events – including commemorative train rides, displays, and souvenirs – to be announced at a later date.[5] At the same time, JR West announced plans to retire their trains after 2027. They are scheduled to be replaced with commercial N700S Series Shinkansen trains that incorporate inspection and observation equipment.[7][5]
New Measurement Train, the British equivalent of Doctor Yellow, used to assess the condition of track
TGV Iris 320, the French counterpart of Doctor Yellow, used to monitor the condition of the French tracks (mainly the high-speed railways LGV) used by high-speed trains, as well as High Speed 1 in the United Kingdom.
^ abc"「ドクターイエロー」検測終了へ - JR東海のT4編成は2025年1月引退" [Inspections by "Doctor Yellow" to end - JR Central's T4 set to retire in January 2025]. Mynavi News (in Japanese). Japan: Mynavi Corporation. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
JR Central Class 922 set T2, October 1998
JR West Class 922 set T3, October 2004
JR Central Class 923 set T4, April 2013
JR West Class 923 set T5, July 2008
Class 925 set S1, 1987
Class 925-10 set S2, September 2002
E926 East i train, August 2020
Interior of car number 1 used to inspect signalling, communications and power
Interior of car number 2 used to measure electricity
Observation window in car number 3
Seats in car number 5
A meeting table in car number 6
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