I've seen that in use plenty in the US. My water mains were replaced a couple years ago like that. I presume it's not applicable to every situation, though. A place like Manhattan, with lots of connections in a short distance, it might not gain you much.

They did that on a small scale to my brother's 40 year old copper natural gas connection in the US. Very fast compared to trenching in a new line. They just pulled a new corrosion proof line in behind the splitter head.