San Juan Capistrano businesses struggle as rail closures continue

The quaint tourist town of San Juan Capistrano depends on tourists stepping on and off the passing trains to prop up their local businesses. 

But for months now, officials said this mission town has suffered because train service through the area has been unpredictable or nonexistent. Severe weather has battered and shifted the train tracks. More recently, landslides in south San Clemente pushed debris onto the rails, prompting Amtrak and Metrolink to suspend service. 

"You know San Juan is a train town," said Benjamin Medina, director of operations for the town's Chamber of Commerce. "It's probably the most popular stop on the entire Surfliner line."

The fewer trains passing through the train stops have brought fewer visitors, equalling a loss in business. 

"It's been a tough year for train traffic and we're down our weekend traffic is down about 25%," said Rancho Capistrano Winery founder Kyle Franson. 

Franson's winery is steps from the train depot in San Juan Capistrano. Part of his marketing strategy is to encourage tourists to ditch their cars and hop on the train. In between landslides last month, Franson said rail service ramped back up.

"It was almost a month ago when the trains first started up again the train had been down for many, many months we had one of the biggest weekends we had in years," he said. "I think the answer is reliable train schedules and traffic. That seems to be the biggest concern — people not knowing when they can get here and more importantly when they can get home."

Amtrak is running about three trains a day while Metrolink service through south Orange County is only on weekends. Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley contacted Amtrak and officials there say they're working to provide twice as much service soon.