Le tableau des départs indique le retard.

Yes, tableau can mean painting in some contexts, but here it means a board, display, or panel.

In Le tableau des départs, it refers to the departures board you would see in a station or airport.

So the meaning depends on context:

• un tableau = a painting
• un tableau = a board/chart/display

Here, it is clearly the second meaning.

Des here means of the.

So:

• le tableau = the board
• des départs = of the departures

This is the normal French way to link two nouns:

• le tableau des départs = the departures board
• literally, the board of the departures

It is not the plural article meaning some here. It is the contraction of:

• de + les = des

Because a departures board usually shows multiple departures, not just one.

So French uses:

• le départ = the departure
• les départs = the departures

That is why the phrase is le tableau des départs rather than le tableau du départ.

Because the subject of the sentence is Le tableau des départs, and the head noun there is tableau, which is singular.

So:

• Le tableau = singular
• therefore indique = singular verb form

Even though départs is plural, it is inside the of the departures part and is not the main subject.

Compare:

• Le tableau indique... = The board indicates...
• Les départs indiquent... = The departures indicate...

Le retard means the delay.

French often uses the definite article when talking about a specific thing that is understood from the situation. Here, the sentence is talking about the delay shown on the board.

So:

• un retard = a delay
• le retard = the delay

If the speaker has a particular delay in mind, le retard is natural.

It is singular because the sentence refers to the delay as one piece of information.

Even if several departures are delayed, French can still talk about le retard in a general or collective way, depending on context. But most naturally, this sentence suggests one relevant delay being indicated.

If you wanted to talk about several delays, you could say:

• les retards = the delays

Not only. Retard can mean:

• delay
• lateness
• being behind schedule

For transport, retard very often means delay.

Examples:

• Le train a du retard. = The train is delayed.
• Elle est en retard. = She is late.

So the exact English translation depends on context.

Yes. Indiquer means to indicate, to show, or to point out.

In transport or signage contexts, it is completely normal.

Other possible verbs could be:

• affiche = displays
• montre = shows
• signale = indicates/signals

But indique is perfectly natural and slightly formal or neutral.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Le tableau des départs indique le retard
≈ luh ta-blo day day-par an-deek luh ruh-tar

A few helpful notes:

• tableau ends with an o sound: ta-blo
• départs has a silent final s
• indique sounds like an-deek
• retard has a silent final d

There is also a liaison in:

• des départs → the s in des links to the next word

Yes, definitely. A native speaker might also say:

• Le tableau des départs affiche le retard.
• Le panneau des départs indique le retard.
• Le tableau indique qu’il y a du retard.

The exact wording depends on context:

• tableau = board/display
• panneau = sign/panel
• affiche = displays
• indique = indicates

So the original sentence is correct, but it is not the only possible way to say it.