dtd2mysql

$ npm install -g dtd2mysql$ dtd2mysql --timetable /path/to/RJTTFxxx.ZIP

The oldest tool here, and the only one that touches a database. It is what you want when the question involves fares or routeing, both of which are relational and neither of which GTFS can express. If all you want is the timetable as GTFS, cif2gtfs does that with no database at all.

Every command reads its database settings from the environment:

DATABASE_HOSTNAME=localhost DATABASE_USERNAME=root DATABASE_NAME=fares dtd2mysql --fares-clean

Only MySQL-compatible databases are supported. It could be extended to others; pull requests are welcome.

Timetables

Import the timetable, creating the schema if necessary. This is destructive and removes any existing data:

dtd2mysql --timetable /path/to/RJTTFxxx.ZIP

The timetable does not map to a relational database in a very logical fashion, so all LO, LI and LT records land in a single stop_time table.

Converting to GTFS

dtd2mysql --timetable /path/to/RJTTFxxx.ZIP
dtd2mysql --gtfs-zip filename-of-gtfs.zip

--gtfs writes the same feed as a directory of text files instead of a zip, which is easier to read and to diff:

dtd2mysql --gtfs /path/to/output/

How far ahead the feed reaches, and the date it is built for, come from GTFS_RANGE and GTFS_TODAY. Pinning GTFS_TODAY makes a build reproducible:

GTFS_TODAY=2026-08-10 GTFS_RANGE="6 MONTH" dtd2mysql --gtfs /path/to/output/

The locations a service runs through without stopping are dropped. To keep them, as calls with pickup_type and drop_off_type of 1 and the pass time as both the arrival and the departure:

dtd2mysql --gtfs /path/to/output/ --remove-passing-points=false

It is roughly a fifth more stop times, and GTFS_REMOVE_PASSING_POINTS=0 says the same thing.

A GTFS feed can also be loaded back in, which is how the fares and routeing data are joined to it:

dtd2mysql --gtfs-import /path/to/gtfs/

Cutoff date. Only schedule records that start up to three months into the future — measured from the date of import — are exported, for performance reasons. Data after that point is incomplete or incorrect, because override and cancellation records after it are ignored as well.

Fares

dtd2mysql --fares /path/to/RJFAFxxx.ZIP
dtd2mysql --fares-clean

The import is destructive. --fares-clean removes expired data and invalid fares, corrects railcard passenger quantities and adds full date entries to restriction date records. It occasionally fails on a MySQL timeout depending on hardware; re-running it corrects the problem.

Routeing guide

dtd2mysql --routeing /path/to/RJRGxxxx.ZIP
dtd2mysql --nfm64 /path/to/nfm64.zip

Downloading from the DTD server

The download commands take the latest full refresh from an SFTP server, by default the DTD one. They need a Rail Data Marketplace subscription and three environment variables:

SFTP_USERNAME=dtd_username
SFTP_PASSWORD=dtd_password
SFTP_HOSTNAME=dtd_hostname   # defaults to dtd.atocrsp.org

There is a command for each feed:

dtd2mysql --download-fares /path/
dtd2mysql --download-timetable /path/
dtd2mysql --download-routeing /path/
dtd2mysql --download-nfm64 /path/

Or download and process in one command:

dtd2mysql --get-fares
dtd2mysql --get-timetable
dtd2mysql --get-routeing
dtd2mysql --get-nfm64

Notes

Null values. Values marked as all asterisks, empty spaces, or — for dates — zeros, are set to null, to preserve the integrity of the column type. A route code is numerical although the feed often uses ***** to mean any, so that value becomes null.

Keys. Every record format has a composite key in the specification, but the fields in it are sometimes null, which modern MariaDB and MySQL no longer allow. An id field is added instead.

Missing data. Journey segments, class legends, rounding rules, print formats and the fares feed metadata are not imported. They are either deprecated or irrelevant. Raise an issue if you want them added.

Requirements

Node.js 22 or later, and a MySQL-compatible database. Date handling uses Temporal, through temporal-polyfill, which hands over to the built-in global on the versions that have one — Node 26 and later.

dtd2mysql on npm · source · GPL v3