City

Passenger Train

The train that quietly kicked off the whole Powered Up era.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 60197 · 2018

Pieces677

Minifigs4

Year2018

Set number60197

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The verdict

This was the first LEGO City train to run on the new Powered Up Bluetooth system, and controlling it from your phone still feels like a small thrill the first few laps.

The locomotive itself is sleek and genuinely fun to run, but the tiny station platform is a letdown and the whole thing eats AAA batteries for breakfast. If you want a complete out-of-the-box train with track, motor and remote all included, it delivers. If you run big display layouts, the Bluetooth range will frustrate you.

Best for: Families who want a full motorized train circle in one box

The full review

What it is

I have a soft spot for LEGO trains, and this one matters more than its modest box suggests. The 60197 Passenger Train was the very first City train to run on the Powered Up system, swapping the old infrared Power Functions for Bluetooth. That means you drive it either with the included ten-speed remote or straight from a phone app, and I will admit the first time I sent it purring around the loop from my couch I grinned like a kid. The engine is the star here. It is long, low and clean, with a new single-molded nose that gives it a real high-speed-rail silhouette. Behind it come a cafe car with little tables and a passenger car, both with lift-off roofs so you can pose the four minifigures inside. Those figures (two passengers, a conductor and an attendant) are exclusive to this set, which is a nice touch for collectors.

The catch

There are a few caveats worth being straight about, though. At its original 159.99 dollars this was never a cheap set, though a fair chunk of that goes to the motor, receiver and a full circle of track, so the value holds up better than the sticker first suggests. The bigger gripes are practical. The station is barely a station, just a small platform with a couple of seats and a service map, and anyone who remembers the crossings and details of older passenger sets will feel shortchanged. The Powered Up Bluetooth is a genuine upgrade indoors, easily reaching across a room and through a wall or two, but on big exhibition layouts the train can roll out of range and simply stop, which railroad hobbyists have flagged as a real headache. And the appetite for AAA batteries (six in the motor, four in the remote) is not small.

Who it's for

So who is this for? If you want one box that gives you a motorized train, a remote and a complete oval of track ready to run on the carpet, this is a lovely, self-contained package that plays beautifully. Kids adore it, and adults who just want a train circling the tree or the desk will be happy. If you are a serious layout builder chasing long mainline runs, or you were hoping for a rich little station scene to go with the train, temper your expectations. As a first step into Powered Up, though, it is a warm and satisfying place to begin, and secondhand it can be a smart way to grab a motor and track set.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build splits cleanly into the locomotive and its two carriages, and it moves along at a friendly pace without ever feeling like filler. The engine is the most interesting stretch, since you tuck the Powered Up hub and battery box down inside the body and cap it with four 1x4 tiles, so swapping batteries later means popping just those four tiles rather than dismantling the roof. The carriages are more straightforward, mostly framing out the removable roofs and the seating, but the printed control panel and the tables give them a lived-in feel.

The headline part is that new molded nose cone, a single curved piece that gives the front its aerodynamic shape. It splits opinion: plenty of builders love the sleek finish, while purists grumble that a big smooth plastic piece feels like a shortcut versus brick-built noses on older trains. Beyond that, the real draw for parts fans is the mechanical kit, the Powered Up motor, hub and remote, plus the sixteen curved and four straight rails that make a full loop. Those train motors and rails hold their value well on the secondhand market, which is a big reason this set gets bought for parts long after retirement.

Fun facts

01This was one of the first two LEGO trains (alongside the 60198 Cargo Train) to launch the Powered Up Bluetooth system, replacing the older infrared Power Functions.
02All four minifigures in the set are exclusive and appear in no other LEGO set.
03The set retired in July 2022 after a solid four-year run, and its motor and track are still hunted down by builders looking to power other trains.