Alpha, Queensland

Alpha is a rural town and locality in the Barcaldine Region in Central West Queensland, Australia. In the 2011 census, Alpha had a population of 571 people.GeographyThe Capricorn Highway passes through the town, which lies on Alpha Creek.HistoryAlpha was initially established as a temporary terminus during construction of the Central Western railway line (then known as the Great Northern line, a name that would be subsequently assigned to the subsequent more northern line west of Townsville to Mount Isa). The railway, which was being built westwards from Rockhampton, was opened to Alpha on 22 September 1884. The construction camp continued moving west, but a township remained at the former terminus. Until the late 1990s, Queensland Rail maintained a locomotive depot in the town.Alpha State School opened on 30 August 1886.At the, Alpha had a population of 402.The town remains a service centre for the surrounding pastoral properties and travellers on the highway.MiningOn 29 May 2012 the first mine proposed to be developed in the Galilee Basin, known as the Alpha Coal Project, was approved by the Government of Queensland. Wharatah Coal is planning on building 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.