Noboa Says Quito Metro Expansion Will Start This Period

President Daniel Noboa used his May 24 address to put the Quito Metro expansion back on the national agenda.

El Comercio reports that Noboa said: "La ampliacion del Metro de Quito (...) tambien iniciara en este periodo. La capital a la cual defendimos con nuestras vidas merece tener transporte publico de primer nivel."

What Is Planned

El Comercio reports that the first-line extension would add more than five kilometers toward La Ofelia, in northern Quito.

The project includes four new stations: Bicentenario, Andalucia, Rosario and Ofelia. According to municipal information cited by El Comercio, the project aims to connect more than 500,000 people in 70 northern Quito neighborhoods.

The expansion is still in the definitive-study phase for the stations and tunnel. El Comercio reports that this stage would produce the technical plans needed to open contracting for construction.

What Is Still Pending

The national environmental authority delivered the project's environmental license on February 11, 2026. El Comercio reports that the license enables construction, operation and maintenance, and certifies compliance with environmental rules and assessment of possible social and environmental impacts.

The project has an initial $80 million loan from CAF-Banco de Desarrollo de America Latina y el Caribe. But El Comercio reports that Quito's municipality is still waiting for national-government authorization to structure the project's total financing. The municipality requested that authorization in October 2024 and again in the first week of February 2026.

In the same speech, Noboa also announced an international medicine purchase through government cooperation. El Comercio reports that he said Ecuador reached an agreement with India to bring quality medicines, and that those medicines would have FDA approval from the United States.

What This Means for Expats

For Quito residents, the useful takeaway is that the project has political attention, named stations and an environmental license, but it is not yet simply a finished construction schedule.

If you live, work or plan property decisions in northern Quito, the details to watch are the total-financing authorization and the move from definitive studies into construction contracting.

Sources: El Comercio, El Comercio