“Doctor Yellow” retires – but there’s still a way to see the iconic test train

“Doctor Yellow”, the iconic Shinkansen inspection train beloved by rail fans and the general public alike, recently held a well publicised retirement ceremony.

Fans of the instantly recognisable diagnostic train will however be pleased to hear that there is still a way to see the train in live operation, even after the recent retirement.

JR Central, which operates one of the two Doctor Yellow trains, announced the end of its inspection runs in January 2025 due to the aging of its vehicles.

A farewell run, adorned with “Thank you” messages on its windows, marked the occasion.

However, sightings of Doctor Yellow have continued on the Tokaido Shinkansen line, leading to some confusion.

In reality, two distinct Doctor Yellow trains operate across both the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines.

The Doctor Yellow that recently concluded its service belongs to JR Central, who operate the Tokaido Shinkansen line.

The other train is owned by JR West, the operator of the Sanyo Shinkansen line, and will continue its vital inspection duties until after 2027.

Both Doctor Yellow trains share a distinctive appearance: seven-car trains with striking yellow bodies and blue stripes. They are also both based on the 700 series Shinkansen, which was built between 1997 and 2006.

While visually similar, they possess subtle differences in their design, such as the number and placement of antennas and the type of railway bogies used.

Despite these minor variations, both trains operate across the same routes on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line.

Though defined as two separate lines, the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines effectively form a continuous high speed railway link between Tokyo and Fukuoka, with the Tokaido Shinkansen covering the Tokyo to Shin-Osaka section, and the Sanyo Shinkansen continuing the link from Shin-Osaka to Fukuoka’s Hakata Station.

Interestingly, the JR West-owned Doctor Yellow, despite being operated by JR West, is typically based at JR Central’s Oi Railyard.

With JR West continuing to use their train for inspections for at least another two years, you can still the Doctor Yellow train running on sections of both the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines for the foreseeable future.