Station Announcements
Before learning about departures, let's look at some useful vocabulary for navigating a train station, such as платформа (platform), путь (track), and пассажирский (passenger). To talk about station announcements, use the verb pair объявлять (imperfective) or объявить (perfective).
| They will announce the platform soon. | Они скоро объявят платформу. |
| The station employee has already announced where the passenger train is standing. | Сотрудник вокзала уже объявил, где стоит пассажирский поезд. |
The Prefix от- and Preposition от
To describe stepping away, backing up, or departing from a specific point, Russian adds the prefix от- ("away from") to verbs of motion.
These verbs are paired with the preposition от and the Genitive case to indicate the point you are leaving or moving away from.
Stepping Away: отходить / отойти
Use отходить (imperfective) or отойти (perfective) for walking away or stepping back from a person or an object, such as the край (edge) of something. Notice that the prefix becomes ото- in the perfective form for easier pronunciation.
| You must step away from the edge of the platform! | Вы должны отойти от края платформы! |
| This boy is five years old, and he does not want to step away from mom. | Этому мальчику пять лет, и он не хочет отойти от мамы. |
Train Departures
In Russian, trains "walk" away from the station. You will frequently hear отходить used to describe trains departing from a platform or track. We can also use this to specify the направление (direction) of the departure.
| These new passenger trains depart from the first track. | Эти новые пассажирские поезда отходят от первого пути. |
| The train is departing from the platform in the southern direction. | Поезд отходит от платформы в южном направлении. |
