To the 95th in just 43

Currently, the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan holds the record for fastest lift - it can travel up to 60.6 km/h. But the game is about to change - Hitachi has said it will install a lift capable of reaching speeds of 72 km/h into a skyscraper in mainland China. The lift, the fastest in the world, would take 43 seconds to go from the first to 95th floor in the Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre (just under half a second per floor). The skyscraper is scheduled to be completed in 2016. Hitachi promised a "comfortable ride" even at high speeds in the new lift, but that's going to be a bit of a tall order. Protecting passengers from discomfort is a big challenge for high-speed lifts. When you're travelling that distance, you're going to get pressures on your ears changing. That's probably the most significant problem with high-speed travel in buildings - people suffer some pain. And there's also the possibility that somebody will come up with an even faster lift. But still, this is impressive.