half time provisional school in conjunction with Glenleigh Provisional School (meaning there was one teacher shared between the two schools). Both schools closed in late 1919 or early 1920 due to low student numbers. On 8 April 1941, two people were killed when a goods train from Emerald plunged through a section of the wooden rail bridge over Alpha Creek on approach to the Alpha railway station. At the , the town of Alpha had a population of 402. In the , the locality of Alpha had a population of 571 people. In the , the population of the locality was recorded at 335 people., in the , 559 people. On 22 November 2019, the Queensland Government decided to amalgamate the localities in the Barcaldine Region, resulting in five expanded localities based on the larger towns: Alpha, Aramac, Barcaldine, Jericho and Muttaburra. Alpha was expanded to incorporate Beaufort, Drummondslope, Dunrobin (south-eastern corner), Hobartville (north-eastern part), Pine Hill, Port Wine, Sedgeford, and Surbiton. Mining On 29 May 2012 the first mine proposed to be developed in the Galilee Basin, known as the Alpha Coal Project, which is a joint development of Indian conglomerate GVK and Hancock Coal, was approved by the Government of Queensland. Waratah Coal is planning to develop a new mine close to the town called the China First Coal Project. This mine is to be built on the Bimblebox nature refuge which is home to the endangered black-throated finch. A counter-view is that Bimblebox is a privately owned former grazing property, now unmanaged and run wild, growing and spreading various noxious weeds. Waratah Coal's China First Project 2011 Environmental Impact Statement admits that there would be a range of both positive and negative effects on Alpha, and that they would "cause irreversible change to the physical landscape and the social fabric of towns." But it concludes that the development of mines in the vicinity of Alpha presents a unique opportunity for the town and surrounding communities to benefit from sustainable and socially acceptable development. Bimblebox, a feature-length documentary directed by Michael C O'Connell (Mountaintop Removal), explores the "China First" mega mine project being developed by Waratah Coal close to the town of Alpha in the Galilee basin. The film also examines opposition to the China First mine from the owners of the Bimblebox nature refuge which stands in the path of the proposed project. In a 20 March