German rail operator Deutsche Bahn could stand to lose €400 million ($437m) if it's forced to replace all the components in its infrastructure, which is supplied by Chinese vendor Huawei.

As reported by the German publication Spiegel last week, state-owned Deutsche Bahn could even face delays of five to six years for its projects if the German government decided to ban Huawei components in the short term.

Spiegel's report cited an internal company document.

It comes months after the rail company awarded Deutsche Telekom a €64 million network modernization contract, using Huawei equipment.

Germany has been reluctant to issue a ban on Huawei compared to several other European countries. The likes of the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have banned Huawei from playing a part in their 5G network infrastructure following pressure from the US government.

The UK initially granted the vendor a limited role in its 5G build before banning the company six months later in July 2020.

Germany's stance on a ban could be impacted by plans put forward by the European Union, which is considering a mandatory ban on member states using equipment from vendors that might pose a security risk in their 5G networks.

Such a ban would be expected to include Huawei and fellow Chinese vendor ZTE, with Huawei in particular seen as a threat to national security in a number of Western nations due to its alleged close ties with the Chinese government.

Huawei has previously slammed the European Commission's stance, claiming that it has been discriminated against without verification.

"Huawei strongly opposes and disagrees with the comments made by representatives from the European Commission. This is clearly not based on a verified, transparent, objective, and technical assessment of 5G networks," said a Huawei spokesperson in June, noting that restrictions based on such judgments will pose serious economic and social risks.

"It would hamper innovation and distort the EU market. An Oxford Economics report states that excluding Huawei could increase 5G investment costs by up to tens of billions of euros, and it will have to be paid by European consumers," the company continued