 Built by Kawasaki and Toshiba (trading as Nissho Iwai), the Silver Ferns were introduced in 1972 to encourage passengers back to rail transport due to competition from air and road transport.The class was named the "Silver Ferns" (a national symbol of New Zealand) because of their exterior was made of corrugated stainless steel, like the overnight "Silver Star" carriage train, and replaced the three 82-seater Blue Streak railcars.In December 1991 the Silver Fern was replaced by the Overlander carriage train.