It has been suggested that the track routes of the defunct Bogotá Savannah Railway be utilized for the city's new metro system.

Nevertheless, due to the possibility of the 1986 World Cup being held in Colombia, the Armero tragedy and the Palace of Justice siege, the project was archived.

In 1988, during Virgilio Barco's city government, it was announced that negotiations to construct the metro were being held with the Italian firm Intermetro.

In 1991, Jaime Castro created the Metro de Bogotá company, he contracted feasibility, financing and construction studies.

[7] During 1996 and 1997, the National Planning Department (DNP) hired Fedesarrollo to define the financial and institutional strategy of the Sistema Integrado de Transporte Masivo (SITM - Mass Transit Integrated System) and the first metro line.

Additionally, the crisis of the Social Security Institute (ISS) caused the government to invest heavily in it, to prevent its collapse.

Since the government could not use the ISS's reserves to cover the deficits, it was forced to search for private investment, impacting interest rates.

[8] After the inauguration of the BRT, the metro project did not progress and was commonly used as a political tool to catch voters in local elections.

In 2007, Bogotá City Council approved the budget for year 2008, including the amount to begin with feasibility studies.

The first line outline must, also, include transfers between the regular buses, BRT and the Bogotá's Savannah commuter rail.

[16] On August 19, 2009, Sener-Transporte Metropolitano de Barcelona (TMB), determined four routes for the metro: Calle 127 from Carrera 7 to Boyacá Av.

[17][18] The city mayor, Samuel Moreno, had previously proposed that the first line should go from Kennedy district, through Ferrocarril Av.

[21] The cost differs from other similar projects, such as the Quito Metro in Ecuador due to Bogotá's complex soil.

[24] Moreno was arrested for improprieties in the appropriation of city contracts for public works projects, this was part of the Carrusel de la Contratación scandal.

As of 2011, the administration of the new mayor Gustavo Petro announced that it would push for construction to start in 2013, he also stated that the metro should go to the northwestern Suba District, the most populous in the city.

[33] On September 17, 2016, mayor Peñalosa and president Juan Manuel Santos presented the definitive outline of the project: from Portal Américas until Calle 127.

It was announced that the metro would be constructed in three phases: first, from Portal Américas through Villavicencio Av., Primero de Mayo Av., NQS Av., Calle 1 until Caracas Av.

[48] On January 27, 2020, Bogotá's mayor Claudia López announced studies with Findeter to extend the line up to Calle 100, in order to connect it with TransMilenio.

[53] In 2022, president Gustavo Petro (and former mayor of Bogotá), asked the China consortium in charge of the project to evaluate changes from elevated to underground construction while the contract was already advancing.