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translation_unexpected_value: GTFS validation rule (translations.txt) Error

A translation row references a field_value that does not match the source field: translation key cannot be applied.

Updated on 23 October 2026

What the rule checks

A translation row references a field_value that does not match the source field: translation key cannot be applied.

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 translations.txt. This file gives the GTFS texts in other languages.

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 translation_unexpected_value 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, translation_unexpected_value. Its documentation describes each rule: MobilityData validator rules.

Rules of the same domain