The first plans for a rapid transit system began to be formed in the late 1960s, under the auspices of Anton Kochinyan, then the first secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia.

Nevertheless, all of the tunnels in which the tram lines were to be installed were built to a design that would have allowed a potential conversion into a full underground metro system.

A fourth station had been renamed ten years before, to honour Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan, a Soviet military commander of Armenian origin, after his death.

Today the metro operates as a single line, with a separate shuttle service on the Shengavit-Charbakh branch, and covers 13.4 kilometres (8.3 mi),[1] with trains running every five minutes from 7:00 a.m. to 00:00 a.m.

Continuing the tradition of all ex-Soviet underground systems, most of the stations are exquisitely decorated, often blending Armenian national motifs with late-Soviet architecture.

However, since then the intermediate carriages were sold to the Moscow and Saint-Petersburg systems in return for overhaul repairs on the driving cars (which Charbakh has no facility or apparatus to perform).

In 2000–2001, for economic reasons, all of the intermediate 81-714 carriages stopped operating and the system currently has only 13 81-717 two-carriage trains running, (12 on the main line, one on the shuttle service).

This trend, however, has reversed in recent years as the city's congested road arteries have encouraged commuters to see the metro as a quick, clean and affordable transit alternative.

[8] Although the current building progress is distant, there are plans for a second and third line to eventually open, forming a typical Soviet triangle design layout of six radii, intersecting in the city centre.

[1] In 2018, Armen Gularyan the deputy chairman of Armenia's Urban Development Committee discussed the possibility of constructing another subway station on the already existing line.

This proposed stop, between the Sasuntsi David and Andranik stations, would offer direct access to the Surmalu and Petak shopping malls.

[9] Also in 2019, the Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan announced that the preliminary stages have begun to extend the metro northward to Davtashen District.

Additionally, with the assistance of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, tunnels were upgraded, metro cars were renovated and new logistical equipment was installed.