What applied then does not apply now

When something works flawlessly, we have an idiom in Sweden which, if translated literally, is: "runs like the train". But given how rarely the train arrives on time, the idiom no longer matches reality.

Being referred to by an idiom that includes "runs like the train" is more of an insult nowadays than a compliment.

Take, for example, the offspring's train journey yesterday. In total, the trip consisted of 2 parts. The first part went smoothly, the train left Stockholm on time and arrived in Gothenburg on time. The last part which was a 1 hour journey ended up being more than 2 hours late. If you could fly to the boys' final destination, we would have bought plane tickets instead.