It took me decades to make the dream come true: I finally bought 4558 via bricklink and I even found the one in a perfect condition in 2020. This particular model has always been a fascination for me, but upon building 4558 I found quite a lot of unimaginable wonderful aspects of Lego design here.

General Overview
The train consists of 3 cars: two locomotives (around 25 cm each) and 1 middle car (24 cm), made of individual grey and black blocks, with stripes (also as bricks mostly), which are reminiscent of those which Amtrak trains had at one point.

This is a 9V train, so each car has a lot of space inside: the 1st locomotive has the cabin, the engine section, as well as a small cafe (nothing very special here though). This one makes the train run and it also has lights.

The middle car has 4 seats with tables, but they are made in such a way, that you can store luggage under them. There is also a small sink there. The 3d car is a locomotive with 2 beds inside 1 compartment, as well as a cargo hold for storing bikes and boxes. All cars have doors (!) with stripes.

The station is quite long (almost 38 cm!) and includes 2 lamp posts, 4 seats and a timetable with 2 fences. Instead of stairs it has a ramp, which allows the loader to roll the red hand truck. The rail loop includes 4 straight and 16 curved rails.

Minifigures
These include the classic characters of Lego Town from 1980-1990s. There are 3 Railway employees, including a lady serving drinks (a rare thing in Lego trains), as well as 8 passengers. There are several female figures, including the one with the awesome (and rare) black pigtails, which has a special look solely for 4558. One of the passengers is a man in a cowboy hat, that isn't something you could find in modern City sets. One citizen has a large red stripe on his shirt, which I find very rare: in fact it's a minifigure unique to this particular set (and its remake of 2001).

Why 4558 is still SO good
I have three trains, including 7897 and 7715. While it's difficult to compare the three, I would say, that 4558 takes the best from its predecessors like 7745, but evolved in terms of details: it has different doors for passengers and cargo, a nice cabin and a more advanced and stylish nose parts, not to mention realistic pantographs.

I already mentioned, that this set has very good bricks in the design, and some of them are somehow new to me, including the inside engine, the sink, etc. The train uses a slightly different approach in building the wheels, not like in the 7897, with more bricks making it somehow more sturdy. Also the bottom section doesn't use 'one-brick' blocks, but instead are made from many ones. In general the train feels full of cool decisions, useful for nice design and playability.

Speaking of... Playability
There is no doubt this train is 100% full of potential to be part of any game or worthy collection. Even though it's obvious, you could make a lot of new models with this set (785 parts vs 474 in 7897, 295 in 4511, 669 in 7938, 610 in 60051, etc), Lego were more than generous to include instructions for a second variant of build with 4558 – a semi-cargo train with a passenger car.

The train can be expanded with the Double-deck bedroom car of 4547, sold separately.

I must add, that this train looks absolutely hilarious together with the stately Grand Lego station of 4554. With the splendour of this magnificent yellow building 4558 Metroliner looks wholesome and somehow as a complete piece of art from its creators.

Pros and Cons
Well, the positive sides are obvious. There is one thing which might be a disadvantage: the transformer and speed regulator is a different set (4548) and must be purchased separately in order to make this train run.

As part of the Holy Trinity for Lego train collectors (the other two being the Emerald Night and Santa Fe Superchief), this set has been my white whale for years after first encountering the set in various brickfilms from the early 2000s and the Lego Loco PC game. The iconic Amtrak style train has remained highly sought after by many fans of the train theme with even used copies going for more than 240 dollars.

What the set Includes:

The train consists of two locomotives. The first one is powered with the interior consisting of the conductor's controls, a brick-built engine and a shop with some cups for sale. The other locomotive is unpowered with sleeping quarters for the passengers, an area to store luggage and another set of controls for the driver. The middle carriage has four seats, tables with luggage compartments and a sink.

Enough to track to make an oval as well as a speed regulator

Eleven Minifigures are included with two bikes, various suitcases, two packages which are yellow bricks with a sticker, a hand truck and a handheld sign

There is also a platform with a time table, streetlamps, and seats.

There are also instructions for an alternate build which makes a double-ended locomotive, a modified passenger carriage and some kind of open-air baggage car.

Building Experience

The overall experience is pretty straightforward but does have the classic LEGO charm. I will have to knock down a star for building experience since the older instructions are a bit harder read and some parts such as the placement of the bogies as well as the control area being a bit annoying to follow.

Parts

Aside from the obvious parts like the wheels, bogies, motor, and track. There is a great selection of parts to use. Large plates, street lamps, fences, printed doors, regular and skinny windows, printed control panel tiles and even faucet piece

Playability

With 11 minifigs and a ton of accessories, it is hard to beat this set when putting it up against later passenger trains as most only include around 3-5 minifigs. The station is also easily twice as long as other station builds in train sets.

Thoughts

A problem many people seem to have with some of the more modern train sets is that they seem pretty bare bone. Examples would be 60051 which has no doors and only 3 minifigs as well as 4511 which straight up is missing the third carriage. This set is not the case, all 11 minifigs can pretty much fill up the train comfortably. Each carriage is packed with features instead of just throwing in seats in all 3 and calling it a day. And while I do love all the trains that Lego has put out the Metroliner just feels the most complete. While the prices for this set may be high it is a must-have for all Lego train fans and even classic Lego fans. It sets the bar for how a Lego passenger train should be.

This is the set that every serious Lego collector needs.  Many years ago, we bought our son the Haul and Load train.  Last year I bought this for him for xmas.  This has the look of an Amtrak train.  It comes with many minifigs.  The detail inside the cars is remarkable.  It has beds, sinks and faucets.  The working headlight is a very nice addition. 

Many reviewers call this set the best passenger train set create by Lego. Well, maybe 7740 is a slightly better and 4558 is the second best, but does it really matter?
This set is simply fantastic and it (or at least the reissue) is still available MISB on e-Bay or BrickLink. I you get the chance to buy a copy please don't hesitate. If you only want to have one Lego passenger train set in your life, this is your best choice! Add a Club Car to your Metroliner and you'll be a happy man I can guarantee that! The set itself is amazing because it's so realistic with a lot of features and with 11 nice city minifigs which is the highest minifig count in the Lego train set history. Please see both the architecture and the colours that the Metroliner has. They all perfect and beautiful.
A true legend! Don't pass by while you can reach one!

This is an amazing Amtrak-inspired train. You get lots of figures with tools, each train wagon has an individual interior and due to this it offers 1000s of playing possibilities for you. The design is wonderful, as mentioned before, its a true and realistic train, not some spaceship-influenced design out there.
The little train station is a nice addition, of course you need some bigger train station in your city but its good for a beginning.
The interior offers so many lovely details, its fun just to build it over and over or just take the roof away and have a look what happens inside.
You will see a small kitchen, restroom for stewards, a small space with two beds and you can fix all the luggage so it wont fly around in the train when the rail is not straight.

Even bicycles are included and can be transported in a wagon.

5/5, best 9V passenger train lego made. And the first ;)