It reflects the can-do attitude in Finland which has not a single skyscraper, but whose lift maker is the third biggest in the world in terms of market share after the US firm Otis and Schindler of Switzerland.

Kone has 10 per cent of the global lift market, behind Otis's 22 per cent and Schindler's 15 per cent, but ahead of Mitsubishi's 8 per cent and the German firm Thyssen's seven per cent.

Kone says the 20 million markka ($3.67 million) investment in its new High-Rise Laboratory was only a fifth of what it would have cost to build a test tower above ground.

"This is a good example of the innovation and engineering skill that is found in Finland and it is our answer to internationalcompetition," Kone vice chairman Antti Herlin told reporters who toured the shaft.

"This shaft is absolutely necessary for testing the highest-speed elevators, and this will be good to show to clients," Herlin said.

The shaft, with one test lift and one auxiliary elevator enables Kone to test lifts for skyscrapers up to 500 metres (1,640 feet) tall in "real" conditions and at initial speeds of up to 8-9.5 metres (between 26 and 30 feet) a second.

At present test speeds, the elevator at the Lohja mine in descends or ascends the full 333 metres in 37 seconds.

One Kone official said that in today's fast-paced world, a lift ride of a minute pushes the limits of tolerance.

The world's fastest elevators already travel at over 12metres (39 feet) a second and Kone officials said they would eventually test higher-speed lifts.

None of the company's rivals had anything to match its new test shaft, but others are likely to follow suit, Kone officials said.

Project manager Harri Hakala said the facilitycould be used to test the sway of hoisting cables, which must be minimised in high rise buildings, and the safety devices designed to keep elevators from dropping if a cable were to snap.

While Kone sees no pressing commercial need to build the world's fastest elevator, the company's engineers may do it just for the sake of the challenge, Hakala said.

"If a client one day wants to buy an elevator like that from us, then we may just have to do it, and this equipment gives us the ability to do it," said Hakala.

"Supported by the new laboratory and with the help of its new-generation lifts, the company is now entering the market for over 200-metre skyscraper elevators," a company statement says.

Kone estimates the value of the worldwide high-speed elevator market at about $2 billion a year.

More than 200,000 lifts are sold yearly around the globe and about 5.1 million elevators are in operation worldwide.

Herlin said it was important to have a facility where Kone can test and develop its space-savingtechnology for the biggest and fastest elevators.

"With this facility, we can test elevator technology that is only a fraction of the size and weight of conventional lift machinery," he said.

The new technology -- which either eliminates the need for an engine room above the elevator shaft or minimises the space required by the machinery for the biggest elevators -- already accounts for over a third Kone's new lift sales.

Kone launched the MonoSpace concept in 1996 and expects sales of lifts built with it or the heavier-duty MiniSpace concept to generate three quarters of its new lift sales within a few years, said senior vice president Raine-Peter Joutsen.

All of Kone's competitors are working on developing similar technology, but Kone has a clear lead, he said.