More than a decade after Ottawa’s original light rail plans were derailed by political decisions and years after the city’s current LRT system was plagued by breakdowns, a new documentary is encouraging residents to reconsider how the capital arrived at its transit crisis — and what lessons can be learned as Ottawa continues to expand its transit network.
Dozens gathered at the ByTowne Cinema on July 11 for a screening of The Train to Nowhere, a 46-minute documentary by Ottawa filmmaker Gio Petti. Hosted by Good Golly Zines, the event also featured a panel discussion with Petti, researcher Benjamin McLellan-Campbell, Tom Ledgley of Horizon Ottawa, Meg Herod of the City for All Women Initiative and Marko Miljusevic of Strong Towns Ottawa.
The promotional poster for The Train to Nowhere, a documentary by Ottawa filmmaker Gio Petti exploring the history of the city’s O-Train and the political decisions that shaped Ottawa’s transit system. [Photo © Marjan Massoom]
The documentary examines the history of Ottawa’s O-Train, revisiting the original north-south line, the cancellation of the city’s 2006 light rail project under former mayor Bob Chiarelli, and the decisions that shaped today’s transit network.
Petti said the project evolved far beyond what he first envisioned.
“It was originally not supposed to be a documentary,” he told the audience after the screening. “It was supposed to be a 15- or 20-minute video talking about Line 2.”
As research progressed, however, he and McLellan-Campbell realized Ottawa’s transit history had never been fully pieced together.
“The story of Ottawa’s north-south LRT wasn’t really told,” Petti said. “By having the archival footage and putting the story together, people would better understand it.”
McLellan-Campbell said uncovering that history required digging through newspaper archives, old election footage and personal recordings that documented debates over the city’s transit plans.
“It definitely made me appreciate how Ottawa doesn’t really save a lot of its contemporaneous political information,” he said. “Otherwise, we’d be totally dependent on newspaper clippings.”
The filmmakers said those historical decisions remain relevant today as Ottawa prepares for future transit expansion and another municipal election this October in which transit is expected to be a key issue.
Panelists (left to right) Laura Blanchette of Good Golly Zines, filmmaker Gio Petti and researcher Benjamin McLellan-Campbell, Marko Miljusevic of Strong Towns Ottawa, Tom Ledgley of Horizon Ottawa and Meg Herod of the City for All Women Initiative take part in a discussion following a screening of The Train to Nowhere at the ByTowne Cinema in Ottawa on July 11. [Photo © Marjan Massoom]
While the film looks backward, the discussion afterward focused squarely on the future.
Ledgley, coordinator of the grassroots political advocacy group Horizon Ottawa, said reliable public transit is critical for both mobility and civic engagement.
“Our group does a lot of work trying to get people more engaged with municipal politics,” he said. “But when you have a volunteer base living in the urban area, trying to convince people to get down to Kanata or Barrhaven is very difficult.”
Without reliable transit, he said, community organizing, public meetings and civic participation become less accessible for residents across Ottawa.
Herod connected transit to broader issues of equity and caregiving.
‘It’s very important to talk and listen to the needs of people and what that transit can do for them. It’s important to canvass the people that live there.’
— Gio Petti, filmmaker, ‘The Train to Nowhere’
Working with the CAWI, a non-profit that advocates for gender equity and inclusive municipal policies, Herod said the organization’s research consistently finds transportation at the centre of conversations about affordability, housing and access to essential services.
“We cannot have a single conversation without talking about transit,” Herod said.
She pointed to research showing that roughly half of Ottawa caregivers travel outside their neighbourhoods to access childcare, arguing that unreliable transit places a disproportionate burden on those who cannot choose another mode of transportation.
“So many folks in our neighbourhoods do not have that choice,” she said.
In a scene from the documentary film “The Train to Nowhere,” then-prime minister Justin Trudeau is shown surrounded by OC Transpo employees and municipal and provincial officials at the launch of Ottawa’s $4.6-billion O-Train extension project in 2020. [Image © “The Train to Nowhere”/Gio Petti/City of Ottawa]
Herod said improving transit means recognizing it as more than a way to commute. For many residents, she said, it is essential for accessing childcare, groceries, employment and health care.
Miljusevic argued that many of Ottawa’s transit challenges begin with how suburban neighbourhoods are planned.
“Decent transit is linked to land use,” he said. “If you build another car-dependent suburb and then add transit afterward, the city can’t justify having enough frequency to entice people to depend on it.”
Instead, he said, cities should build neighbourhoods around transit rather than treating transit as an afterthought, creating denser, mixed-use communities that make frequent transit viable.
The title shot of Ottawa filmmaker Gio Petti’s “The Train to Nowhere” features a commuter train’s arrival at Limebank Station in south-end Ottawa. [Image © The Train to Nowhere/Gio Petti]
The screening also attracted municipal political hopefuls. Mayoral candidates Neil Saravanamuttoo and Jeff Leiper were among those in attendance and participated in the audience Q&A, asking panelists how the city can better engage residents in transit planning and ensure future decisions reflect the needs of riders. Their questions centred on public consultation, civic engagement and how Ottawa can avoid repeating past planning mistakes.
Audience members also questioned the role of developers, public consultation and political decision-making in shaping major transit projects, prompting a broader discussion about who should have a voice in planning the city’s transportation network.
Petti said future transit projects should begin by listening to the people who use them.
Although The Train to Nowhere revisits some decisions made decades ago, Petti said the goal was never simply to criticize the past.
Instead, he hopes the film encourages residents to become more involved in conversations about the future of public transit.
“It’s fantastic to have this discussion and talk to so many people,” he said. “To be in this space and share this is incredible.”