Methods and systems for communicatively coupling vehicles and ground systems

A system configured to communicate with a vehicle on-board system, the system comprising:

• a ground sub-system configured to provide power to and to communicate with the vehicle on-board system, the ground sub-system comprising an integrated power and communications connector comprising:
• a socket comprising a conductive portion and an optical communication portion, wherein the integrated power and communications connector is configured to supply power to the vehicle on-board system via the conductive portion, and is configured to communicate data between the vehicle on-board system and the ground sub-system via the optical communication portion;
• and
• an optical-to-Ethernet interface in communication with the optical communication portion of the socket, wherein the interface is configured to at least one of receive or transmit optical signals including the data via the optical communication portion.