1 Anoop Srivastva, Sanjeev Swami and D.K. Banwet I. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION Security is a condition of being protected against danger or loss [1]. Security refers to freedom from exposure to danger (protection), implying a feeling of assurance against danger. It also pertains to the means of protection or defense [2]. Thus, management of security has, both psychological and mechanical underpinnings. Technically, security implies that something is ‘not only secure’ but that it ‘has been secured’. Since the dawn of human civilization, groups of human beings have always adopted ways and means to secure themselves. With the passage of time, protection of sovereign interests of political states led to the establishment of military forces to secure respective countries from external aggression. However, the changing scenario of world politics since Systems Approach to Security Management in Indian Railways Anoop Srivastva DIG Railway Protection Force and Research Scholar, Dept. of Management, DEI Dayalbagh Agra, Sanjeev Swami Professor and Head, Department of Management, DEI Dayalbagh Agra , D.K. Banwet Professor, Department of Management Studies, IIT, Delhi. Abstract— Security management in Indian Railways is a complex and challenging task owing to the vast extent of passenger kilometers and goods kilometers served. Additionally, due to simmering terrorist activities in the country, the vulnerability of Railway System is a major cause of concern for the Railway Administration. It appears that a gap exists between the efforts made by the security agencies and the expectations of the government as well as the traveling public. A systems theory based scientific approach can be helpful in such a situation. Accordingly, the present study is an attempt to fill this gap. Various descriptive elements of railway security and their underlying dimensions are identified and results of Delphi exercise are presented. The implications of these results for security of Indian Railway are also discussed. Keywords — Railway Security System, NGT, Delphi, Consensus, Systems Engineering the 1980s’, ethno-national conflicts, religions fundamentalism, growth of non-state actors, newer forms of terrorism and other such reasons have thrown in newer challenges for security agencies throughout the world [3]. To quite an extent, international borders have proved to be redundant in preventing collaborations between terrorist groups choosing to work together on grounds of shared ideologies, practices, commitments, funding strategies, etc. State sponsored terrorism has become a form of low intensity conflict as it is convenient to engage in hostile activities without being held accountable [4]. Weiner [5] states that the international terrorism carried out by non-state actors and the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have emerged as most significant security threats to the international security.