Japan Retires Legendary Shinkansen "Doctor Yellow" Gradually After 60 Years Of Operation

Doctor Yellow. (Wikimedia Commons/MaedaAkihiko)

JAKARTA - Japan will retire "Doctor Yellow", a legendary train known for its 'task' diagnosing damage to the country's high-speed shinkansen lines in several models for about 60 years from the first generation.

Doctor Yellow built a 'mistic' status among Japanese train fans because its operational schedule was not disclosed to the public.

In fact, its uniqueness has given birth to claims, anyone who sees it will be blessed with happiness.

Currently, there are two Doctor Yellow trains, generation T4 and T5, each of which travel along the Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen lines that stretch from Tokyo to Hakata Station in the southwestern city of Fukuoka without passengers.

Operations by T4 will be halted in January, while the T5 will be suspended after 2027, according to its operator, reported by Kyodo News January 2.

"All I can say is thank you for the old train service," said Hiroya Mochizuka, an official at JR Central.

Regarding Doctor Yellow's retirement, he said with a laugh, hoping passengers imagined they might have "becoming doctors on the train and continuing their diagnostic work."

According to JR Central, the first generation of Doctor Yellow, or T1, emerged shortly after the shinkansen service began in 1964, amid fears of diagnostic action to monitor pressure on equipment from trains traveling at speeds of up to 210 kilometers per hour.

A 0-series shinkansen train is equipped for the task and painted yellow, in a move believed to have been taken to ensure the train can be more easily recognized during night operations.

Along with the increase in day-to-day operations and with that chance of sightings, the names "Doctor Yellow" and "train doctor" became popular and became public-known vocabulary.

Earlier, JR Central, which owns T4, said in June plans to stop operating the train, which began operating in 2001, without plans to find a replacement.

Instead, the N700S bullet train carrying passengers will be equipped starting in 2027 with testing and observation equipment that can fulfill the role of rail and aerial cable checks.

Di sisi lain, T5, yang dimiliki oleh JR West, memulai debutnya pada tahun 2005.

As evidence of the yellow train's popularity, an event in October at JR Central's Hamamatsu factory offered visitors the opportunity to see the inside of one of the trains as part of a celebration to mark Japan's 60-year shinkansen bullet train.

Separately, sales of Doctor Yellow-themed toys and other merchandise are expected to jump nine times a week after operational shutdowns are announced.