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 the high-speed test trains that are used on the Tokaido Shinkansen and San'yō Shinkansen. On Shinkansen lines operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), there is an equivalent called East i. The trains have special equipment on board to monitor the condition of the track and overhead wire, including special instrumented bogies and observation blisters.[1][2]
The "Doctor" part of the name is from their test and diagnostic function, and the "Yellow" part comes from the bright yellow color they are all painted. Some have a blue waistline stripe, some a green one. 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 on 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow-gauge track-recording cars.
In build and appearance, they are very similar to production, passenger carrying Shinkansen trains, and line inspection is carried out at full line speed (i.e. up to 270 km/h or 168 mph on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen).
Because the schedule for this train is not made public, witnessing it in action is a case of chance. As a result, seeing Doctor Yellow in operation is believed to bring the viewer good luck.[3]
On 13 June 2024, JR Central and JR West announced that the use of their Doctor Yellow trains for inspections on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen lines would terminate after 2027. They are scheduled to be replaced with commercial N700S Series Shinkansen trains that incorporate inspection equipment.[4]
^Wada, Shigeki, "'Dr. Yellow' train keeps line safe, elates spotters", Japan Times, March 11, 2010, p. 3.
^Naganuma, Yasukuni; Tanaka, Mamoru; Ichikawa, Kimihiro. "High-Speed Track Inspection Car in New Dr. Yellow" (PDF). Railway Research.
^"'Dr. Yellow' lucky Shinkansen shows its belly for 1st time". Japan Bullet. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
^"「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.
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