Thanks Antonio....I guess I will have to get over my fear of the buses. Perhaps the main station will be better. It is not where we had our problems before.

[originally posted by El Dougo on 12-11-2003 08:56 AM]

The links to the maps and information in the long distance lines don't work in the English version, but if you go the the Spanish page,
http://www.renfe.es/empresa/glineas/index.html
they do. Lots of good info.

For the long distance lines, there are 23 "Radiales" and 23 "Transversales." If you like maps (what traveller doesn't?), you could view them all by pulling up one, e.g., http://www.renfe.es/empresa/glineas/t14.htm
(the "Picasso") and replacing t14 with t1, t2....t23 for tranversales, and lr1, lr2...lr23 for the radiales. Shows you easily what long distance trains there are. Tranversales cross the country, radiales radiate from Madrid mostly.

Can you buy bus tickets a day or so early and somewhere in the Sol area? Or must they be purchased at the bus station?

Also, are seats reserved?
Are buses air-conditioned and comfortable?
Is it a smooth ride from Madrid to Toledo.

Here's a link to the revised Madrid Toledo train schedule: http://www.renfe.es/empresa/regionales/pdf/madrid_toledo.pdf
It shows you transfer to a bus from Algodor to Toledo.
And here's a link to the Madrid-Toledo bus schedule: http://www.continental-auto.es/continental/index.php There's also contact information at this site, that might answer your specific questions. Site is in Spanish, but easy to navigate.