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decreasing_stop_time: GTFS validation rule (stop_times.txt) Error

A stop_times arrival_time is earlier than the previous departure_time on the same trip: time travel.

Updated on 23 October 2026

What the rule checks

A stop_times arrival_time is earlier than the previous departure_time on the same trip: time travel.

Severity: error

An error marks data that breaks the GTFS specification. A journey planner or a rider app may refuse the file, or show a wrong version of it. Correct it before publishing the GTFS.

Where it applies

The rule applies to stop_times.txt. This file gives, for each trip, its stops in order with their times.

Finding and correcting it

Open the GTFS in GTFS Express. Reading is free, and the validation, by the MobilityData validator and the rules of GTFS Express itself, lists the occurrences of decreasing_stop_time with the file and rows involved. The correction is made in a draft, by hand or from a brief, with the licence: the corrected GTFS is validated again before it is delivered, and the change can be undone.

In the MobilityData validator

The MobilityData GTFS validator uses the same code, decreasing_stop_time. Its documentation describes each rule: MobilityData validator rules.

Rules of the same domain