300m
330yds

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The current site was formerly occupied by the Orange County "Katella Yard" with outdated facilities for the county surveyor, the agricultural commissioner, public works transportation, watershed protection, and flood control operations and maintenance. Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) was the lead agency in acquiring the 13.5-acre (5.5 ha) property from the county. On November 21, 2006, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved the sale and relocation of their operations to clear the site for the new complex. In July 2012, the city of Anaheim, which already owned 2.2 acres (0.89 ha) of the site, agreed to buy the balance of the property from OCTA for $32.5 million as they could not come to terms over a lease. Anaheim will make payments to OCTA over 14 years at a 2 percent simple-interest rate.

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) clearance was completed in October 2010 and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) clearance was completed in 2012. KTGY Architecture + Planning was responsible for obtaining approvals, entitlements and creating the land plan. The team of PB/HOK completed design development in May 2012. The construction contract was awarded to Clark Construction Group-California, LP. A groundbreaking ceremony for the facility took place in September 2012 and train service began on December 6, 2014. A 30-year lease agreement was approved in January 2013 to allow the Orange County Water District to construct an injection water well and appurtenant facilities on the site.

The main terminal was about $68 million of the total construction cost of $185 million. Operation and maintenance of the terminal was expected to cost $5 million annually but was reduced to $3.8 during the first year though various cost savings, including having the city division of conventions, sports and entertainment take over management.

Measure M, a sales tax that funds transportation projects, was the main funding source for the construction of ARTIC. The overall $120 million construction of ARTIC along with environmental studies and connections aspects of the project put the total price tag closer to $185.2 million. The main terminal was about $68 million of the cost. A conflict between Metrolink and Amtrak over the platform's height so that it could be used by accessible passengers was one of the biggest issues that had to be resolved during the construction. The redesign of the train platform added extra costs along with expenses for rail improvements but the project was within the project budget as there was a $6 million contingency fund for unanticipated costs.

The tubular steel-framed 67,880-square-foot (6,306 m) building has a compound curved shell that is covered with a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m) ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) roof system. This allows diffuse sunlight to illuminate a major portion of the building's interior. At night, the structure can be illuminated in any color with the 1,354 energy-efficient lights glowing through the air-filled plastic pillows which make up the arched roof. The structure's entrance is a 120-foot-tall (37 m) glass wall and leads into a spacious lobby ticketing counter area. A plaza leads to the thirteen bus bays. The second floor has space for offices and two restaurants. The third level is a mezzanine with a small lobby and the concourse bridge for access to the stairs or elevators that take travelers down to the railroad tracks.

The building was certified LEED Platinum and was awarded the 2015 Public Works Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association. Recognizing excellence in the management and administration of public works projects, the cooperative achievements of the managing agency, contractor, and consultants were highlighted by the award. The building uses a combination of radiant floor and jet diffusers to cool or heat only a 12-to-15-foot (3.7 to 4.6 m)-high area above the floor. The ETFE foil "pillows" maintain a cool temperature in the unconditioned space at the high elevations of the curtain wall when used in conjunction with glass louvers at both ends that open to allow natural air flow when needed. Twenty percent of the building's power was designed to be generated by solar panels on the parking structures and recycled materials were used in the construction. The complex geometry of the diamond-shaped metal grid that forms the shell is supported by a structural steel frame. This required extensive planning and preparation using building information modeling.

Artist Mikyoung Kim was selected to complete the sole piece of public art slated for the complex. A dynamic holographic experience was integrated into the grand staircase of the main lobby. Different conditions of time and phenomena transform the atmospheric images.

The transit center has been praised for its aesthetics. It has been praised for acting as a civic landmark for the city of Anaheim (being described as perhaps acting as a tourist attraction itself) and for featuring a pleasant and grand interior space, which has been likened to stations from the peak of American rail transit (such as Grand Central Terminal and former Pennsylvania Station building). In 2014, hailing it as a "world class transportation gateway to Orange County, the American Institute of Architects described the station as, combining "the heritage and civic importance of the grand 19th century rail stations of the past with the size, scale and complexity of today's modern airport terminals." Its shape has also been described as reminiscent to airship hangars, driving comparisons to the historically notable structures also located in Orange County. The project received a 2014 American Institute of Architects Technology in Architectural Practice Building Information Modeling Award.

The station's physical layout has received criticism due to the lengthy route that users need to take to reach the train platforms and the physical distance between the station building and the platforms. Some commuters transferring between bus and train have called the layout "dysfunctional" for pedestrians. Additionally, the transit center's location in the middle of a vast area full of various parking lots has been criticized for being isolated.

The city of Anaheim is responsible for the ongoing operating and maintenance costs and planned for the facility to be self-funded. Potential revenue sources anticipated in the planning were advertising, a naming-rights sponsor, and leases from tenant business. During the first years, most of the funding has come from the 2 percent assessment from the resort area hotel guests collected by the Anaheim Tourism Improvement District. Some additional funds have come from Measure M2 which is a half-cent countywide sales tax that helps pay for transportation improvements. The city eventually began to obtain lease revenue from commercial tenants but has continued to manage costs at the depot and seek more revenue through events and filming.

Two 35-foot-tall (11 m) monument signs were approved that display static directions and center advertising for the transit hub. An 84-foot-tall (26 m) digital billboard facing State Route 57 had been proposed to generate about $800,000 annually in advertising revenue. At a November 2014 meeting, the City Council indefinitely postponed the electronic sign even though it would have been one of the primary funding sources for the $3.6-million cost to operate ARTIC during the first seven months of operation. A naming-rights partner has not been obtained, so city officials will continue with those efforts since this was also supposed to be one of the main funding sources for operation and maintenance of the station.

Anaheim had originally planned for the sales of naming rights to be a source of revenue.

The station was featured in the second season finale of the HBO series True Detective.

In the second season of The Morning Show, the station was used as a mock of a train station for the show's Wuhan, China scene during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic due to its similar design.

In 2013, the last year before the new facility opened, the station averaged approximately 500 daily Metrolink boardings and 400 daily Amtrak boardings. There were roughly 224,500 annual Amtrak passengers (arrivals and departures) in 2013.

City officials had originally projected that, after the station was rebuilt as the ARTIC, daily ridership would eventually amount to more than 10,330 boardings, and predicted that initial ridership would see nearly 3,000 daily boardings. However, the project had been advertised as though 10,000 riders were expected on opening day. Initially, a typical weekday saw about 2,400 transit riders, increasing to 3,900 on days with concerts and/or sporting events at the nearby venues.

By 2019, 4,200 to 5,500 riders were passing through on any given day. Amtrak trains had 287,415 boardings and departures that year. In addition, Amtrak Thruway intercity bus services (which connect the station to/from eight cities) saw 950 passengers to/from ARTIC in 2019.

In 2019, Amtrak handled 242,032 arrivals and departures at the station. All of these were coach and business class tickets (the Pacific Surfliner does not have a first class or sleeper class).

In 2019, the average trip to/from the station was 73 miles (117 km) in distance. 91.8% of all trips at the station were to/from stations less than 100 miles (160 km) from the station, 5.9% were to stations between 100 and 200 miles (320 km) away, and 2.2% were to stations more than 200 miles (320 km) away.

In 2019, the average Amtrak fare to/from the station cost $25.00, and the average yield per mile (revenue generated per passenger mile) on trips to/from the station was $0.347.

Annual Amtrak passenger traffic (arrivals + departures)

Year	Passengers (in thousands)	Change
2013	214.5	--
2014	212.8	1.0%
2015	236.3	11.0%
2016	243.9	3.2%
2017	247.6	1.5%
2018	256.6	3.6%
2019	242.0	5.7%

The following is the top-ten stations which receive the most ridership to/from ARTIC out of the twenty-eight stations that the Pacific Surfliner connects ARTIC to/from.

The following is the top-ten stations which generate the most revenue from trips to/from ARTIC out of the twenty-eight stations that the Pacific Surfliner connects ARTIC to/from.

Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center is served by 20 Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains (ten in each direction) evenly spaced throughout the day.

Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center is served by 19 Metrolink Orange County Line trains (10 northbound and 9 southbound) each weekday, running primarily at peak hours in the peak direction of travel. Weekend service consists of 4 trains (2 in each direction) on both Saturday and Sunday, running in each direction in the morning and evening.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center.

• Official website
• Anaheim, CA – Amtrak
• Anaheim, CA – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Anaheim – Metrolink