Route examination system and method

A system comprising:

• one or more processors disposed onboard a vehicle and configured to electrically detect a plural locations beneath the vehicle of breaks in electrical conductivity in one or more conductive rails of a route from onboard a vehicle during movement of the vehicle along the route, the one or more processors also configured to compare the locations of the breaks in the electrical conductivity with designated locations of nonconductive areas in one or more routes that include the route traveled by the vehicle, the one or more processors configured to determine one or more of a location of the vehicle along the route or an identification of the route among the one or more routes based on the comparison of the locations of the breaks with the designated locations, wherein the one or more processors are configured to electrically detect the locations of the breaks in the electrical conductivity in the one or more conductive rails of the route by determining one or more separation distances between the successive locations of the breaks in the electrical conductivity in the one or more conductive rails along the route, the one or more separation distances representing one or more separation distances between successive non-conductive areas along the route, wherein the one or more processors also are configured to control movement of the vehicle responsive to determining the one or more of the location of the vehicle along the route or the identification of the route.

A system comprising:

• one or more processors configured to be disposed onboard a vehicle system and to detect changes in an electrical characteristic of one or more conductive rails in a route being traveled upon by the vehicle system, the changes in the electrical characteristic detected beneath the vehicle during movement of the vehicle system along the route, the one or more processors also configured to determine locations of breaks in electrical conductivity in the route based on the changes in the electrical characteristic that are detected relative to a baseline value of the electrical characteristic, wherein the one or more processors also are configured to compare the locations of the breaks in the electrical conductivity with designated locations of the non-conductive areas in one or more routes stored in a route database to determine one or more of a location of the vehicle system along the route, an identification of the route among the one or more routes, a direction of travel of the vehicle system, or a speed of the vehicle system based at least in part on the changes in the electrical characteristic that are detected, wherein the one or more processors are configured to compare the locations of the breaks in the electrical conductivity with the designated locations of the non-conductive areas stored in the route database by comparing one or more separation distances between successive locations of the breaks with one or more designated separation distance stored in the route database, the one or more designated separation distances defined between the designated locations of the nonconductive areas, wherein the one or more processors are configured to control the movement of the vehicle system responsive to determining the one or more of the location of the vehicle along the route, the identification of the route, the direction of travel of the vehicle system, or the speed of the vehicle system.