“Ladies and gentlemen, the new and improved Anaheim station coming up, Anaheim!” a voice sounded from the intercom of an Amtrak train pulling into the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center Saturday, as passengers ogled out the window.

The $185.2 million, 67,000 square-foot terminal opened to train, bus and taxi travelers for the first time at 5 a.m. Saturday, according to Ruth Ruiz, Anaheim city spokeswoman. With the opening came no shortage of people stopping to snap photos of the glass-and-steel dome glistening in the bright morning light.

On a visit to ARTIC late Saturday morning, the center appeared to be running smoothly save a few minor glitches, including a stopped escalator, side doors that wouldn’t open and a small jumble in the intercom script. Janitorial staff could be seen mopping the floor and buffing brushed-steel surfaces throughout the center, as contract workers shuffled around the station to iron out last-minute details.

“There were some follow-up items we’ve got to straighten out, any construction project has a few last-minute things,” said Natalie Meeks, Anaheim’s public works director, who said there’s time to work out the kinks before the station’s grand opening celebration next weekend.

“We wanted to push and open this project to the public as soon as possible,” Meeks said.

Gregory Spevack, who stepped off a Pacific Surfliner train to an ARTIC platform from a visit to Encinitas, was disappointed he didn’t have time to enter the dome. He had two buses to catch on his way home in Long Beach, so he took a ramp directly to bus stations aside the big building.

“It looks like a small stadium, where does the band play?” he asked with a chuckle. “I wish I had time to check it out because it does look interesting.”

As for whether the station’s $185 million price tag was worth it? He could see if plans for a street car and high-speed rail station come to fruition, he said.

“I hope they are going to do more with it,“ Spevack said. “It just still sounds like a lot of money.”

Keith Shular, who traveled to Anaheim to visit Disneyland with his family from Penticton, British Columbia, was upset there was no place to buy food while everyone waited for a train to San Diego.

“If you’re going to open this station, you should have the restaurant ready, or at least a vending machine,” Shular said as he waited with family members on the station’s open-air bridge.

The first food establishment to open in the station, Mission Market Express, was still working on getting things up and running Saturday morning, though the store’s manager said the market would be open later on Saturday. Luckily, the family brought a few snacks.

But Valerie Ashton, another family member, was more impressed by the station’s design.

“It‘s beautiful, the architecture is amazing,” Ashton said. “I think it’s prettier than Crystal Cathedral.”

Contact the writer: 714-796-7922 or kmejdrich@ocregister.com