The ownership of the metro infrastructure is shared by the Biscay Transport Consortium and Euskal Trenbide Sarea.

Metro Bilbao, S.A. was established on 28 February 1993 with a capital of 10 million pesetas and the Biscay Transport Consortium as its only shareholder.

[3] The management of the metro system by an independent company was a result of the 1975 law that established the Biscay Transport Consortium and the 1983 Law of Historical Territories.

[4] The creation of a separate company has been criticized as a political decision that left Basque Railways in a weaker position (the Bilbao-Plentzia line was the busiest of its network) and that hindered the reuse of existing infrastructures (particularly in the Txorierri line).

That was the original intention when the line was tendered in 2009, but it was later announced that Metro Bilbao would be the operator.