Railfans Happy as Doctor Yellow Will Continue “Checkups”

August 17, 2018

Nagoya- Rare and popular track and overhead wire inspection Shinkansen trains, nicknamed Doctor Yellow, are seen continuing their operations in and after 2020, relieving children and rail enthusiasts in Japan who had been worried that they might be decommissioned in the not-so-distant future.

Currently, there are only two active Doctor Yellow trains--one owned by Central Japan Railway Co. better known as JR Tokai, and the other by West Japan Railway Co. or JR West.

The nickname comes from their yellow body color and as they are often called "doctors for Shinkansen bullet trains."

Due to their rarity, it is said that those who catch sight of the yellow inspection trains can become happy. Some even wait around for a chance to take pictures of them although their operating schedules are not released to the public.

The seven-car trains have onboard measuring instruments, designed to detect rail distortion and check overhead wires, and signal and other systems. They check the facilities while traveling at high speeds, and if any abnormality is found, Doctor Yellow will automatically send the information to the Shinkansen operation center.

Inspections by Doctor Yellow are conducted about once in 10 days in principle between Tokyo Station and Hakata Station in the southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka. In each inspection, a Doctor Yellow train makes a round-trip between the two Shinkansen stations.

According to JR Tokai's public relations department, they are colored yellow to show even in the dark that they are inspection trains. They also have blue lines on both sides.

Doctor Yellow has undergone model changeovers in line with the introduction of new Shinkansen trains. The yellow color for the current trains is deeper than the initial pale yellow used for the first Doctor Yellow train that appeared in 1962, before the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, the first bullet train line in Japan, went into service in 1964.

Rumors about Doctor Yellow's retirement came after the N700 and N700A new Shinkansen trains debuted in 2007 and 2013, respectively.

Once again, railway buffs recently became upset that Doctor Yellow might be decommissioned as 700-series Shinkansen trains, launched in 1999 and based on which the current inspection trains were developed, are slated to be withdrawn from service at the end of fiscal 2019.

But a JR Tokai executive delivered a happy message to many rail enthusiasts and children at the firm's general shareholders meeting in June this year, saying, in response to a question from a participant, that Doctor Yellow "will continue 'checkups' after the 700 series ends operations." Jiji Press