The département draws its name from the Oise, a navigable river which has been opened to barge shipments of up to 5.000 tonnes. The Bruyéres-sur-Oise port is slated for promising future development, while existing facilities at Cergy-Pontoise play a key role in supplying local industries. 
Outstanding rail linksand TGV station
A good 120 miles of track serve the département through 68 SNCF stations, 18 of them serving two towns. The TGV (high speed train) station is available in Val d'Oise at Roissy-CDG airport (direct trains to and from Belgium, England, and the mains cities in France), major train lines which fanned out from Paris in the nineteenth century have been modernized and now carry both international and commuter traffic to and from the Gare Saint-Lazare and Gare du Nord, the largest train stations in Paris. And the Val d'Oise is the only département in Greater Paris region served by four lines of the RER express commuter rail network : the A and B lines run to Cergy and Roissy CDG airport and the D line to Survilliers, while the C line from Paris-Invalides serves the full lenght of the Vallée de Montmorency as well as urban areas around Argenteuil and Sannois. A rapid rail link between Cergy and Roissy is also planned. Freight handling facilities are found in five multi-functional stations, and a number of industrial sites have direct rail links, among them Fosses-Saint-Witz.
A close-knit highway network
Altrough most of the Val d'Oise lies beyond the rim of heavy traffic around Paris, highways and motorways make for quick access to the capital. Efforts are currently focused on improving direct road links within the region -the section of the Francilienne outer ringroad between Roissy CDG airport and Cergy-Pontoise has been completed from 2001, and work has begun on the BIP (Boulevard Intercommunal du Parisis) linking the A15 and A1 motorways. Plans also call for a number of new motorways (A104, junction A16 - "La Francilienne"). In the decade ahead, these roads will be one of the département's greatest assets, bringing economic centers closer together through a network built around the Cergy-Roissy-CDG airport axis.
Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, a focus for quality
Charles de Gaulle airport is the hub of a transport network that will shape the economic destiny of the Val d'Oise in the years ahead. A critical advantage is the link between France's TGV high-speed train and the RER commuter express rail systems at airport interchange . Gains will extend far beyond the immediate vicinity of the airport, with the entire eastern part of the Val d'Oise set to benefit from the opportunities improved transport brings. Technology businesses offices, freight handlers and warehouses, in particular, can look to the future with confidence -a fact which has been recognized and acted on by local authorities. The Val d'Oise was the first département in the Ile-de-France region to form a special association of towns to take charge of common development planning.
