Learn Russian: Эти новые пассажирские поезда отходят от первого пути. - These new passenger trains depart from the first track.

Отходят is formed from the prefix от- (indicating movement away from a specific point or edge) and the multidirectional verb of motion ходить. When applied to scheduled transport like trains, ships, or buses, отходить is the standard verb for to depart or to pull away.

Why is the word от repeated, first as a prefix in отходят, and then as a standalone preposition?

This is a very common pattern in Russian! When a verb of motion has a prefix indicating a spatial relationship, it is often reinforced by a matching preposition to connect it to the noun. Here, the prefix от- pairs with the preposition от (from/away from), which requires the Genitive case.

Wait, isn't the noun for track/path (путь) masculine? Why does it look feminine in от первого пути?

Great catch! Путь is a masculine noun, but it is highly irregular. It declines almost exactly like a feminine 3rd-declension noun ending in a soft sign (like тетрадь). Because the preposition от requires the Genitive case, the ending changes to -и, making it пути. However, the masculine Genitive adjective первого confirms its true gender.

Why does the plural of поезд end in -а (поезда) instead of -ы?