Tube chief who scorned his passengers

Career railwayman Andrew Lezala has had a difficult reign as chief executive officer of Metronet.

He was appointed in 2005 and has been criticised for his unsympathetic view of passengers.

In November last year he said they were bound to suffer as the company continued its project of upgrading the Tube.

He was later considered to have inflamed the situation by underplaying it, saying merely that it had been "a bad week" for the company after botched engineering work on the District and Circle line led to services starting two hours late for the morning rush hour.

The 52-year-old chartered engineer has held several important jobs in the industry including managing director of Daimler Chrysler's Rail Systems operations in Australia and New Zealand and CEO of Jarvis Rail.

The married father of three lives in the Isle of Dogs during the week and in Derbyshire at the weekend.

He has likened his work to that of 19th century engineering pioneer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.