In 1957, Pakistan Railways opened up a school outside Abbottabad on official railways land 'donated' by Sardar Bahadur Khan, brother of General Ayub Khan from Haripur, Hazara. who later became the President of Pakistan.
The school was called Railway Public School. After two years it was closed and then after a gap of one year, in April 1961, the school was renamed as Abbottabad Public School.