I plan to fly into Madrid, arriving next Monday around 10:00am (Nov 11) and take the train to Sevilla in the afternoon. Can someone tell me how far the train station is from the airport and what the best and most reasonable means to get there is?

Also, I plan to take 2nd class. Should I make a reservation on the renfe website before I leave home? (And what happens to my $$ if my flight should be significantly late and I miss the train I've reserved?)

Thanks. cjac

cjac writes: You need to get to Madrid's Puerta de Atocha train station. You can get there by Metro (subway) but it can be cumbersome if you have a lot of luggage. So AeroCity might be your best bet. For a Monday afternoon in November you probably won't need an advance reservation. That makes your question re. what happens if you miss your train: irrelevant. You can buy your ticket/reservation at the Renfe ticket Office in Barajas airport. If you really want to save some money, take the Triana rather than AVE.
P.D.
Only once did I have to wait (an hour) for the next AVE. I showed up at the last minute and Turista was fully booked on the first AVE departing. BTW: They don't call it 2nd Class any more: it's Turista.

From the airport, you can take the subway line number 8 (http://www.metromadrid.es) to Nuevos Ministerios (it will take you about 15 minutes to get there). There are elevator at both the airport and Nuevos Ministerios station so changes are not a problem.

From Nuevos Ministerios, you can take the commuter train (Cercanías) to Atocha (just two stops from there. Again, it will take you about 15 minutes.

Take into account the waiting time until the trains arrive and the time you have to spend walking from the terminal at the airport to the subway station (about 10 minutes).