The issue goes above those two, though both seem incapable of turning things around. Lewis in particular is dire at his job; Metro's reputation is as low as it's ever been. People don't trust the service anymore. I know I don't. I drive into Newcastle for leisure because I have no faith the Metro will be running when it's time to come home. I've abandoned Metro for work, even though the Metro is five minutes from my house and my workplace, because it was so often taking me an hour to get the four miles home.
The issue is Nexus/NECA/whatever you want to call them. They are incapable of any forward planning and that's why there are huge holes in the budget. The issues with the trains were foreseeable 15 years ago when they extended to Sunderland without any new rolling stock; instead of getting stuff ordered, they fannied around with the vapid egotrip that was Project Orpheus. But when Nexus has been run for years by the 10w intellect that is Nick Forbes, the man who's trashed the previously well-run (by the LibDems) Newcastle City Council, and is stuffed with 5w Labour yes-men, it ain't much of a surprise. They even managed to screw up the committee meeting that gave us the annual above-inflation fare rises on Metro and the Tyne Tunnel.
Speaking of fares, the rises being dumped on those of us at the coast are disgraceful. Apparently three-zone seasons were "too cheap", for which read "we think coast passengers are sitting ducks who don't have a choice, so we can screw them for every penny". Well the traffic jams in North Tyneside show people are fed up of being treated like cash cows and have, like me, abandoned Metro.
This, this and this again.
So many of the problems we have today are a result of no long term planning, other than the circle-jerk that the Orpheus was. Add to that the fact that political empire building has prevented proper integration with and advertisement of other local rail lines, and this is why we can't have nice things.
Sadly we have also seen much the same with the new rolling stock tender for Metro too, with a chance to redefine what Metro is to the region and to remove some technical limitations completely overlooked.