Patent ID: 8798902

Claim:
A method comprising: one or more processors operating a rail vehicle to travel during a trip according to a trip plan that dictates one or more routes the rail vehicle is to travel along during a trip to reach one or more destination locations, the trip plan also dictating operational settings to be used by the rail vehicle during the trip, the trip plan based on the rail vehicle traveling over the one or more routes, the operational settings including at least one of propulsion commands or braking commands; identifying, by the one or more processors, when the rail vehicle is approaching a divergence point in the trip where the rail vehicle may change from traveling over the one or more routes dictated by the trip plan to traveling over a different route that diverges from the one or more routes dictated by the trip plan and that is not included in the one or more routes dictated by the trip plan; the one or more processors receiving information about whether the rail vehicle will diverge from the one or more routes dictated by the trip plan and travel onto the different route that is not dictated by the trip plan; and the one or more processors adjusting the trip plan responsive to the rail vehicle leaving the one or more routes dictated by the trip plan and traveling onto the different route that diverges from the one or more routes dictated by the trip plan, the trip plan adjusted to direct the rail vehicle to travel to the one or more destination locations using at least the different route that diverges from the one or more routes previously dictated by the trip plan and to decrease at least one of fuel consumed or emissions generated by the rail vehicle during travel along the different route to the destination location relative to traveling along at least the different route to the one or more destination locations according to another, different plan other than the trip plan that is adjusted.