3. The tower has 73 total elevators

1 WTC Elevator Banks under construction
One World Trade Center elevator banks under construction

One World Trade Center has 73 total elevators, which is one of the highest totals of any building. The building also features one of the fastest elevators in the Western Hemisphere, five of which are express elevators with a top speed of more than 36.5 kilometers per hour. Although they are not the fastest in the world, a feat of Taipei 101, they are 25% faster than those of the original Twin Towers. Each elevator operates using a pulley-like system consisting of a cab and counterweights connected by a cable. The building’s SkyPod Elevators climb 102 stories in 47 seconds up to the observation deck. Back in 2015, an installation was set up inside the high-speed elevators that show a CGI timelapse of New York from 1500 to today.

The original elevators in the Twin Towers used far less floor space than earlier designs. It was one of the first systems to require people to take two elevators to reach most upper floors. While the original World Trade Center elevators were efficient, especially with the use of both local and express elevators, they were rather catastrophic during the 9/11 attacks. USA Today estimates that at least 200 people died inside World Trade Center elevators, making this the biggest elevator catastrophe in history. ThyssenKrupp made the six dozen elevators for the new One World Trade Center to increase speed and safety, as well as to improve navigability.