Farewell of Doctor Yellow Shinkansens

JR Central and JR West have announced the planned retirement of the Shinkansen Doctor Yellow EMUs. The first of two Doctor Yellow trains, JR Central's Class 923, built in 2000, is scheduled for retirement in January 2025. JR West's Class 923-3000, built in 2005, will follow in 2027. These yellow-painted trains are based on former Shinkansen bullet train Class 700 EMUs built between 1997 and 2006 and retired in 2011, with the exception of 16 "Rail Star" EMUs.

Doctor Yellow's role will eventually be taken over by N700S EMUs, which will be used on regular passenger services and will carry the necessary track and catenary measuring equipment. Details will be published later. The same approach is used on the Kyushu and West Kyushu Shinkansen lines.