An elevator speed control system permitting rotation of the motor with short-circuited rotor at full speed, wherein the thyristors controlling said motor permit the motor to rotate at full speed and when the elevator is running in the lighter direction, operation of the motor as generator at an over-synchronous speed. The system comprises a control unit assembled of components known in themselves in the art by which the instruction value is increased considerably past the actual value, whereby the motor with short-circuited rotor is left to rotate at full speed, and that on commencing retardation the instruction value is dropped directly to be consistent with the actual value.