A staircase that served as an escape route for thousands of survivors of the World Trade Centre attack was moved to its temporary home a short walk away.

The so-called survivors' staircase will be a featured attraction of the World Trade Centre memorial and museum when it opens on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attacks.

Richard Zimbler is the president of World Trade Centre Survivors Network.

"It's only natural that this stairway being the only remaining stairway at the Trade complex, and it actually saved peoples lives on that day. It's become a symbol for all the stairways of the towers and for all survivors."

After the wreckage of the twin 110-story towers was removed, the stairway, 37 steps that once connected an exterior plaza to the street below, was the only aboveground remnant of the complex.