[8] In March 2005, a tender was awarded for the Üçyol–Fahrettin Altay section, a 5.2 km (3.2 mi) extension to the west consisting of six new stations.

However, when the contractor failed to fulfill their obligations, the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality sent a cease and desist letter to the company on 14 February 2006, subsequently cancelling the tender in November 2006.

[13][14] The İzmir Metropolitan Municipality issued a third tender in October 2009,[15] but it was again cancelled by the Public Procurement Authority for unspecified reasons.

[16] Consequently, İzmir Metropolitan decided to complete the remaining construction using their own resources due to the possibility of a tunnel collapse if it were not concreted.

[19] On 18 June 2012, test runs began between İzmirspor and Hatay stations, opening to passengers service on 29 December 2012.

However, the section between Evka 3 and Bornova Merkez stations was delayed after the contractor company refused to do construction drawings.

Constructing the section would have risked building damage as it was discovered during excavations that the soil contained clay and sand.

[24][25] The construction was fully stopped in 2008 after the contractor could not finish the extension and requested an additional year, which was rejected.

[3] Works on the 7.2 km (4.5 mi) Fahrettin Altay–Narlıdere Kaymakamlık extension to the west began on 9 June 2018 at a cost of €287 million.

[27][28] There are seven stations built for the extension: Balçova, Çağdaş, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Hastanesi, Güzel Sanatlar, Narlıdere İtfaiye, 100.

[29] Two other stations that were originally planned to be built in the west direction, were removed from the project, as it was predicted that the number of passengers would be insufficient.

[49] In 2023, a train parted and a few cars of it derailed as a result of a switch throwing while the vehicle was passing over it.